Context: A large body of literature has shown that forests provide nutritious foods in many low- and middle-income countries. Yet, there is limited evidence on the contributions from different types of forest and tree systems.
Objectives: Here, we focus on individual trees and smaller forest patches outside established forest reserves as well as different forest management systems.
Food security policies often overlook the potential of trees to provide micronutrient-rich foods. Here, through causal mediation analysis, we show the positive effect of tree cover on micronutrient adequacy, explained by people sourcing food from on-farm trees. Detailed survey data (n = 460 households with repeated surveys) from Malawi were linked to high-resolution (3 m) tree-cover data to capture forest and non-forest trees.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe baobab tree (Adansonia digitata L.) is an integral part of rural livelihoods throughout the African continent. However, the combined effects of climate change and increasing global demand for baobab products are currently exerting pressure on the sustainable utilization of these resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGreenhouse cultivation has been expanding rapidly in recent years, yet little knowledge exists on its global extent and expansion. Using commercial and freely available satellite data combined with artificial intelligence techniques, we present a global assessment of greenhouse cultivation coverage and map 1.3 million hectares of greenhouse infrastructures in 2019, a much larger extent than previously estimated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFForests are attracting attention as a promising avenue to provide nutritious and "free" food without damaging the environment. Yet, we lack knowledge on the extent to which this holds in areas with sparse tree cover, such as in West Africa. This is largely due to the fact that existing methods are poorly designed to quantify tree cover in drylands.
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