Reports and Indices

Forests for food: Nourishing people, sustaining the planet

September 19 , 2026 8 hrs 0 min 16 0

The report, Forests for food: Nourishing people, sustaining the planet, was published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
It was developed jointly with the Landscape Alliance.
It highlights the importance of forests in reducing hunger and poverty and calls on countries to include them into agri food system policies.
The report highlighted regional differences in the contribution of forest foods to food security and nutrition (FSN).
In parts of Africa, some communities obtain up to 80 per cent of their daily protein from wild meat.
In the Amazon, fish account for 44 per cent of total food consumed by weight, alongside wild meat, Brazil nuts and acai berries.
In Europe, a survey covering 28 countries found that 90 percent of respondents consume at least one forest food each year, while more than one-third eat game meat annually.
In North America, wild meat is used more for recreation than subsistence.
India’s Indigenous communities are major users of wild forest foods.
While studies have found that children living in areas with greater forest cover can have more diverse diets and lower rates of stunting.
Another study in eastern India found that the consumption of wild foods (mostly from forests) was associated with higher dietary diversity scores among women, particularly during the lean season.