Tree  based  bioenergy  for  Nutrition  and  Health  ??  ?

• Sub-­‐‑Saharan  Africa  is  the  region  with  the  highest  prevalence  (percentage  of  population)  of  hunger.  One  person  in  four  there  is  undernourished.     • Poor  nutrition  causes  nearly  half  (45%)  of  deaths  in  children  under  five   • One  out  of  six  children  is  underweight. • One  in  three  of  our  children  are  stunted.   •   If  women  farmers  had  the  same  access  to  resources  as  men,  the  number  of  hungry  in  the  world  could  be  reduced  by  up  to  150  million.     • 66  million  primary  school-­‐‑age  children  a=end  classes  hungry  across  the  developing  world,  with  23  million  in  Africa  alone.  

Global Malnutrition

Source: who.int/nugrowthdb

Way  forward:  

     Decentralized   Breeding  Seed  Orchards

Sustainability  with  the  right  tree  species  for  the  right  place!

             Useful  criteria  for  selec.ng  species  for  fuel-­‐wood  in  developing  countries  are  that  they  should  be:    

•  Preferably  coppicing  hardwoods  •  Adapt  well  to  the  site  condi.ons  •  Easy  to  establish  and  require  minimum  care,  especially  where  the  

establishment  is  by  farmers  in  agroforestry  situa.ons.  •  Readily  available  as  seed  or  plants  •  Grow  rapidly  with  early  culmina.on  of  current  annual  increment  •  Mul.  purpose-­‐  e.g.  have  nitrogen-­‐fixing  ability  •  Produce  high-­‐calorific  wood,  which  burns  without  sparks  or  toxic  smoke,  

splits  easily  and  dries  quickly.  Usually  they  are  moderate  to  high-­‐density  species.  

•  Have  resistance  to  goat  and  wildlife  damage,  unless  grown  also  for  fodder  

                   Species  for  energy