Whether their meals come from farms, forests or markets, rural communities need dependable and nutritious sources of food. Yet our food systems are threatened by unsustainable agricultural practices, deforestation and forest degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss. Diet transitions towards ultra-processed foods are contributing towards rising obesity and overweight all over the world.  In some places, shifting patterns of land use and productive activities are changing local diets, sometimes leading to an increased risk of malnutrition.

To help transform food systems, CIFOR-ICRAF is promoting the widescale adoption of agroecological approaches, including farmer-led strategies to increase tree cover and diversity across agricultural landscapes. And by providing evidence on how forests and trees contribute to people’s diets, we are raising awareness and influencing national policies to include forests and trees as part of national and local food systems.