Contribution of Indigenous fruits and vegetables to dietary diversity and quality Bruce Cogill, Ph.D. Keynote 45 SYM13 Friday 22 August 2014 презентация

Cogill, Ph.D. Keynote 45 SYM13 Friday 22 August 2014

for trends Section 4: Policy and programme actions Section 5: What is the evidence Section 6: Five case studies Section 7: Challenges Section 8: Conclusions

April 2012

http://www.globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/19/2301

Rising NCDs

Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, some cancers, obesity

(2003) ≥ 400 grams of fruits and vegetables per day
Other examples
- Brazil Food Guide
- Health Council Netherlands
- Swedish National Food Council
- Nordic Council
- Australia dietary guidelines

preventing under and overnutrition –
from pills to improved diet and livelihoods

September 2013
Nutrition Marketing Diversity Programme, Bioversity International

?nutrition/health

Challenges in understanding the linkages, pathways of biodiversity in human nutrition and health (Hough 2014)
Reductionist approach to nutrition with focus on single nutrients and foods (Hoffman 2003 and Burlingame 2004)

of clear definition of what is meant by biodiversity and diet diversity
Modelling is challenging with complex pathways and limited or different levels of data
Lots of studies associating environmental change and dietary diversity

being re-evaluated worldwide (e.g. the Mediterranean diet)

All countries have valuable and rich traditional foods

There is a need to assess the relative nutritional benefits and related health outcomes of these traditional foods and dietary patterns

(per 100 g)

fruit and vegetables

or Rocket Eruca sativa

1994 -1998: Project on underutilized Mediterranean species
By research and advocacy
Italian project’s experience evolved over the years into a solid framework now being tested and disseminated to many countries around the world
Source: S. Padulosi, Bioversity International

A carotenoid

<8500 µg/100g pro-Vit A carotenoid

South Pacific banana varieties

Source: Burlingame, FAO (2013) and Bioversity International

- nutritious, affordable, adapted to local growing conditions and cultural traditions
2007: Over 40 different species (10% wild) including Amaranth, African nightshade, cowpea, pumpkin, spider plant, bitter lettuce and vine spinach
Considered to be an inferior good but consumption rising – information lacking

(Gotor and Irungu, 2010) Also see ARDC

of a nutritionally adequate diet in Baringo District, Kenya

Bioversity International, Save the Children UK and the Museums of Kenya

Objective: Documenting the role of wild and underutilized foods in reducing the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet for children aged 6 to 24 months and women

Method:
Ethnobotanical surveys to inventory wild species
Market price assessments and seasonality
Culturally acceptable average food consumption frequencies and portion sizes
Selection of 5 wild neglected and underutlized species (NUS) for modelling in Cost of Diet analysis
Cost of Diet linear programming to assess the cost of a locally appropriate, culturally acceptable, cost-optimized, nutritious diet in dry and wet season. Analysis with and without wild NUS foods.

foods (only deficient nutrients are shown) and additional percentage of nutrient requirements met by including all 5 wild foods together or the wild fruit Berchemia discolor apart in the modeled diet for the dry and wet season

diets were deficient in Fe for all age groups (women and children) during dry season
Infants aged 6 to 8 months: Vit. B6 and Ca deficient during dry season, Fe and Zn deficient the whole year

With 5 wild foods:
modelled diet could lower the cost of the diets (up to 64% for some age groups) and contributed to meet FAO/WHO recommended nutrient intakes
Berchemia discolor had the highest impact on the cost of the diet and on meeting recommended nutrient intakes for Fe
With or without wild foods, it was not possible to meet all recommended nutrient intakes in all seasons for children aged 6 to 12 months

global phenomenon

Source: Low et al. 2009; Harvest Plus

Plant breeding, adaptation, behaviour change, consumer

fruits and vegetables to improve dietary quality

chains underdeveloped
Considered an inferior product or good
Need to be commercial, scalable, and researchable
Quality control, food safety, information

nutrient and health claims
Lack of understanding of nutrient content/bioavailability

Interactions among nutrients and food components

Food handling, processing and preparation

Level of intake or dose

Source: www.kulikulifoods.com

Look at Food Systems & Diet Patterns
A ‘Whole of Diet’ Approach - Foods are more than just the sum of nutrients, agricultural systems more than the sum of crops => whole of diet / landscape approaches are needed
Optimize use of available biodiversity to provide quality diets, decent incomes and sustainable production systems while conserving biodiversity for future generations
Better evidence and tools, such as linear programming, to identify nutrient gaps, and optimize the choices of foods across the seasons to close gaps

Concluding observations I

fruits and vegetables plus rigorous science
Evidence of the importance of dietary diversity including fruits and vegetables and dietary quality with links to both over and undernutrition and some diet related NCDs
Less evidence of links between indigenous fruits and vegetables and dietary quality.  This is due to the lack of standard measures, data and the challenges of modelling complex systems. There are plenty of anecdotes and case studies but attribution remains a challenge
Given public, private sector and even some policy interest in the importance of indigenous fruits and vegetables, especially given diet transition and rising diet related non communicable diseases, there is a strong need to:
generate better evidence of the health and nutrition attributes;
ensure the cultural and non-nutrition aspects are captured and shared;
identify the scalability and accessibility of these foods;
further develop and reach agreement around measurements of biodiversity, diet diversity and intake;
look for opportunities to monitor policies and programmes that link biodiversity, indigenous fruits and vegetables and nutrition; and
engage with teaching and other capacity strengthening to improve training and capacity.

Concluding observations II

appreciated by consumers, manufacturers, etc.
Diversity, hardy, good adaptability, versatility in use, resilient, sustainable
Rich food culture and traditions
Not easily scalable compared with some commodity crops
Lack of improved/enhanced varieties and practices
Lack of information on nutrient content, development etc.
Drudgery in processing
Disorganized or non-existent market chains
Perception of being ‘food of the poor’
Scarcely represented in ex situ collections

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Exhibition Centre
Brisbane, Australia

SYMPOSIUM No. 13: Promoting the Future of Indigenous Vegetables Worldwide
Plaza Room 9
b.cogill@cgiar.org
For more info: www.bioversityinternational.org