Linking agriculture, nutrition and health: Biodiversity as the key to reaching Millennium Development Goal 1

The Biodiversity and Sustainable Diets Symposium  [2] has started in Rome, seeking to agree a clear and workable definition of what constitutes a sustainable diet. As the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 1  [3], on hunger, draws near, concern about increasing levels of undernutrition and obesity has put nutrition back at the centre of agriculture, health and development agendas.

Emile Frison, Director General of Bioversity International, said in his opening remarks: “In 2010, the issue of nutrition and food security has reached a level of awareness in both the public domain and the international policy arena that we have never seen before. This is a timely moment to act to achieve true food security, not only by producing enough food but by producing food with the nutritional value we need”.

Over recent years approaches to malnutrition, especially in developing countries, have focused either on viewing it as a medical condition, to be treated by taking supplements, or by increasing the production of a small number of major staple crops such as maize, rice and wheat, many of which lack vital micronutrients.

Progress to meet MDG1 -- halve the number of people around the world who suffer from chronic hunger by 50% -- is mixed. Many countries are not on target to meet the deadline of 2015, levels of micronutrient malnutrition remain high and there is little sign of any sustainable solutions to last beyond the lifespan of the goal.

“We now know that micronutrient supply cannot be satisfied without an effective and integrated use of biodiversity” Barbara Burlingame, Senior Officer, Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division, FAO, told the conference. Burlingame was reporting on the work of the Cross Cutting Initiative on Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition  [4], a project implemented by FAO  [5] and Bioversity and set up in order to provide scientific evidence of the impact of biodiversity on nutrition.

 Recent research (88 KB)  [6] led by Jessica Fanzo, Bioversity’s Senior Nutritionist, agrees with these findings. While interventions to improve malnutrition through supplementation, fortification, and agricultural intensification are all necessary, they are insufficient to achieve long-term sustainable results.

Speaking during the first day of the Symposium, Fanzo said: “There has been a lack of focus on agricultural biodiversity and on food systems as a whole. Our results suggest that farmer-focused initiatives that are food-systems based can sustainably improve dietary diversity and improve micronutrient levels in the diet of poor and vulnerable populations.”

Download Jessica Fanzo’s presentation:  Ensuring agricultural biodiversity and nutrition remain central to addressing the MDG1 Hunger target (2.6 MB)  [7].

Read more about Bioversity’s work on nutrition  [8].