We created this section to generate an on-line discussion on biodiversity and its role in reducing hunger and malnutrition. Here's what you'll find:

Opinions from international experts We interviewed experts from five United Nations agencies working in the field of nutrition. Find out their views on the relationship between biodiversity, nutrition and health. E-Discussion We've set up a place where you can post your own comments on biodiversity and nutrition. See what people are saying and make yourself heard. Commentary from Dr Emile Frison, Bioversity's Director General "...we’re using this section to bring people from many fields together to discuss how we can make biodiversity more effective in the fight against hunger and malnutrition". Quick Facts Get some insight into the relationship between biodiversity and nutrition.

Getting started

To get the discussion going, we posed five questions to representatives of several UN Organizations. You can find out what they had to say by clicking here. You can post your own comments here.

Here's what we asked:

• How can the global community harness biodiversity to reach development goals, as requested by the Convention of Biological Diversity's cross-cutting initiative for food and nutrition?
• What role do you see for local agricultural biodiversity in creating a permanent solution to chronic food insecurity and malnutrition through diversified diets, and what are the obstacles we will have to overcome to harness biodiversity to improve nutrition levels?
• What can we do to counteract the harmful effects that heavily promoted 'junk' foods and 'fast' foods are having on people's health, and how do diversified diets derived from better use of agricultural biodiversity fit into the picture?
• How can we tap into people's natural curiosity about different foods and cultural pride about traditional foods to produce influential messages promoting healthy diets and agricultural biodiversity?
• Can you give us examples of how the promotion of agricultural biodiversity has improved nutrition levels?