LAGUNA -- Today, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) joins the global community in celebrating World Food Day with the theme “Our Actions are our Future. Better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life.” The transformative actions that we undertake now are seeds of hope that must be nurtured so that future generations may enjoy the fruits of a safe and healthy planet.
The ongoing 15th Meeting of the Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15) is among the crucial actions that will determine the future of our biodiversity and all life on earth. Its outcomes, particularly the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, will set the directions for global actions on biodiversity, health, food and nutrition security, as well as climate resilience.
Biodiversity is essential to food security and proper nutrition. Prosperity in the ASEAN depends on healthy ecosystems, with more than 650 million people relying on the services they provide, including food, shelter, livelihood, and protection against extreme weather events. Agriculture remains an important socio-economic sector for many of the ASEAN Member States, with activities in farming, fishing, and forestry contributing to more than 10 per cent of the regional GDP. Globally, the whole agri-food system, or the ‘farm-to-table journey of food’ -- from production to processing, transportation, distribution, and consumption -- employs about one billion people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Between 1961 and 2011, global agricultural output more than tripled, according to a 2017 FAO report. However productivity and efficiency in agriculture that is driven by monoculture, intensive use of chemical inputs, and massive land conversion have negatively impacted nature. Given the declining state of biodiversity and the worsening climate crisis, these trends in agriculture are widely concerning. With the growing pressures on natural resources, there is an urgent need to reverse biodiversity loss while exploring ways to optimally manage our remaining resources.
The World Food Day celebration calls for a transformative change in the way we produce and consume food. Adopting sustainable agricultural and natural resource management practices, such as crop diversification and integration, contribute to retaining and improving genetic and species diversity while enhancing productivity and improving crop performance. Data show how multi-cropping and efficiently utilising non-timber forest products help farmers produce a wider assortment of derivatives, yield higher economic gains, and ensure environmental sustainability.
Agricultural practices with sustainability at its core––protecting and enhancing the health of natural ecosystems instead of tearing them down––are also vital in addressing food insecurity at the local and national levels. Recent data from a UN joint study shows that there are more than 400 million undernourished people in Asia, an unforgivable irony given that the region is among the most biodiversity-rich areas on the planet. Lack of access and steep costs of products should not be barriers to food security and nutrition as we have a myriad variety of local and traditional foods that are safe, nutritious, and accessible. The transformation of agri-food systems, where there is an emphasis in developing and promoting alternative sources of nutrition such as wild foods, can greatly allay the alarming issue of hunger.
For the urban population, the choices that we make have a resounding influence and impact on the prevailing agri-food systems. By supporting and consuming environmentally and socially responsible products, we not only engage food industries and businesses, but also decision-makers in paving the path towards sustainable food production.
Indeed, mainstreaming biodiversity in key development sectors is a necessary approach if we are to transform the agri-food system. As part of this thrust, the ACB is collaborating with the Non-Timber Forest Products-Exchange Programme (NTFP-EP) on a project on Biodiversity-based Products (BBP) that aims to promote the conservation and market values of community-based products through the Forest Harvest Collective Mark (FHCM). This joint endeavour will support the honey producers in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam in enhancing protocols and raising the standards for honey and other honey-based products, ensuring the sustainable use of biodiversity while producing quality products for the environmentally-conscious consumers.
Committed to its mandate of facilitating regional cooperation and fostering cross-sectoral collaboration, the ACB and the NTFP-EP are working on an online series to further enrich the discussions on wild foods and food security among the AMS and other key stakeholders. Through this vital exchange of ideas, knowledge and experiences, we hope to forge networks and embark in joint actions to increase support for wild foods, biodiversity, and community-based sustainable livelihoods.
These are just some of the seeds of hope that we are planting now. Across the ASEAN, Member States, local communities, as well as private and public organisations are taking significant actions that aim to protect biodiversity and achieve the goal of living in harmony with nature. Let us all be part of these transformative actions and cultivate a greener and better future. (ACB)
