Biodiversity and Nutrition

Barbara Burlingame, PhD

FAO

What is biodiversity?

• Ecosystem

• Wild, neglected and underutilized species

• Genetic diversity within species: sub-species, cultivars, varieties, breeds

What is nutrition?

• Nutrients

• Beneficial bio-active non-nutrients

• Matrices

• Dependent interactions

• Active and passive transports

• Bio-availability, bio-conversion,

bio-efficicacy...

The Commission requested FAO to further develop its work on biodiversity and nutrition, recognizing the importance of linking food biodiversity and the environment sector to human nutrition and healthy diets, and of the concept that nutrients in food and whole diets, as well as food, should be explicitly regarded as ecosystem services.

Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA)

Fourteenth Regular Session

April 15-19, 2013, Rome, Italy

Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and

Agriculture

Nutrition and Biodiversity

• COP Decision VII/32 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 2004)

• Noting the linkage between biodiversity, food and nutrition, and the need to enhance sustainable use of biodiversity to combat hunger and malnutrition...

• Requests the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with FAO and IPGRI...to undertake...a cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition to work together with relevant organizations, in order to strengthen existing initiatives on food and nutrition, enhance synergies and fully integrate biodiversity concerns into their work, with a view to the achievement of...relevant Millennium Development Goals.

• CGRFA 10th Regular Session (Rome, Italy, November 2004)

• ...requested the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the “Working Group”) to “provide guidance to FAO on how it could best support countries, on request, to generate, compile and disseminate cultivar1-specific nutrient composition data, as well as indicate the relative priority of obtaining cultivar-specific dietary consumption data, in order to demonstrate the role of biodiversity in nutrition and food security.

• ITWGPGR 3rd Session (Rome, Italy October 2005)

• 8 high priority actions

• 6 lower priority actions

• COP Decision VIII/23A (Curitiba, Brazil, March 2006)

• Adopts the framework for a cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition.

Extent of genetic uniformity in rice

Cultivar Differences in Nutrient Content

Traditional use and availability of aquatic biodiversity

in rice-based ecosystems

Cambodia China Laos

Fish 70 52 27

Crustaceans 6 2 5

Molluscs 1 4 8

Amphibians 2 4 10

Insects 2 3 16

Reptiles 8 - 7

Aquatic Plants 13 19 20

Total 102 84 93

Source: Balzer, Balzer, Pon, 2002; Luo, Xaypladeth

International Rice Commission 20th Session

The Commission recommended that:

• Existing biodiversity of rice varieties and their

nutritional composition need to be explored

before engaging in genetic modification.

• Nutrient content needs to be among the criteria

in cultivar promotion.

• Cultivar-specific nutrient analysis and data

dissemination should be systematically

undertaken. • .

FAO (2002). Report of the International Rice Commission 20th Session (23-26 July 2002,

Bangkok). FAO, Rome.

Bananas and vitamin A

<5 µg carotenes >8500 µg carotenes

Apples

Vitamin C (mg)

Quercetin (µg)

Anthocyanins (µg)

b-carotene (µg)

Apple, Royal Gala, raw

0.4 5460 1010 2

Apple, Renetta, raw 5.4 3400 nd nd

Apple, Red Delicious, raw

0.7 5860 2520 6

Apple, Morgenduft, raw

5.6 5430 3670 nd

Apple, Granny Smith, raw

2.7 4930 nd 10

Apple, Golden Delicious, raw

7.7 7140 nd 6

Apple, Fuji, raw 2.1 4770 400 4

Apple, Braeburn, raw

8.1 8320 520 nd

Data source: BioFoodComp2.0

values per 100 g fresh weight

Cactus pear

Fruit β-

carotene (µg)

Vitamin C (mg)

Epicatechin (µg)

Hesperidin (µg)

Isohamnetin (µg)

Cactus pear, green-skinned, ripe, peeled, raw

290 45.8 6950 2410 220

Cactus pear, yellow-skinned, ripe, peeled, raw

2370 43.7 980 nd nd

Cactus pear, red-skinned, ripe, peeled, raw

1460 81.5 5480 nd 380

Cactus pear, purple-skinned, ripe, peeled, raw

670 12.1 9350 1900 110

Data source: BioFoodComp2.0

values per 100 g fresh weight

Improving the evidence base

Collaboration with the FAO/ UNEP Sustainable

Food Systems Programme and the CIHEAM

Towards the Development of Guidelines for

Sustainable Diets

• FAO/CIHEAM discussion paper Towards the Development of Guidelines for Improving the Sustainability of Diets and Food Consumption Patterns in the Mediterranean Area. 9th Meeting of the CIHEAM Ministers of Agriculture, Malta, 2012

• CIHEAM/FAO, Feeding Knowledge

Project, White paper priority 5: Food consumption patterns, diet, environment, society, economy and health. Expo 2015 Milan

Conservation and Sustainable use of Agro-biodiversity to

Improve Human Nutrition

• National Information System on native agro-biodiversity, its nutritional properties and resilience to climate change

• Ensure support for in-situ conservation of agro-biodiversity linking high nutrient ecotypes to markets

• Mainstreaming conservation and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity for food security and nutrition into policy and regulatory frameworks

• Communication and capacity building

Challenges

BIODIVERSITY BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity and nutrition

• Dietary energy supply can be satisfied without diversity

• Micronutrient supply cannot be satisfied without diversity

Conclusions

Whole diets, foods, and nutrients for human nutrition are ecosystem services with inherent complexity;

Nutrient requirements cannot be satisfied without dietary diversity, including biodiversity;

Analyzing and documenting the nutritional value of existing food biodiversity, and conserving that biodiversity through sustainable use, is more important than many other investments in nutrition;

Sustainable solutions to the multiple problems of malnutrition cannot be found without the coordinated engagement of health, agriculture and environment sectors.