"www.fao.org/about/meetings/sustainable-food-systems-nutrition-symposium The International Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Improved Nutrition was jointly held by FAO and WHO in December 2016 to explore policies and programme options for shaping the food systems in ways that deliver foods for a healthy diet, focusing on concrete country experiences and challenges. This Symposium waas the first large-scale contribution under the UN Decade of Action for Nutrition 2016-2025. This presentation was part of Parallel session 1.1: Sustainable agriculture production and diversification for healthy diets"

2. By
Cécile Ndjebet
Underutilized nutritious food
resources: the case of forest foods in
Cameroon

3. African Women’s Network for Community
management of Forests (REFACOF)
 Moto: Securing Women’s Forest and Land Property Rights!
 Creation: 27 May 2009 in Yaoundé, Cameroon
 Mission: Promote women’s rights in Africa and advocate
to shape policies and practices for gender equity in relation
to land and forest tenure
 17 Member countries from Central Africa, West
Africa and Madagascar

4. Forest foods in Cameroon: key elements
• Large variety of foods come from forests in Cameroon; but there is very little
recognition of their nutritious value; especially for wild forest food;
• Forest dwellers fully depend on forests for food, medicinal care, customary
practices, water, housing, revenues, etc… ;
• Forest foods are composed of a variety of products: Non Timber Forest
Products (NTFP), wild meat (bush meat), fish, etc. ;
• Wild forest foods played a very important role in the diets and health of
people living in and outside forests, in both rural and urban areas;
• Rural women are key actors in forest foods collection, production,
processing, marketing, consumption, etc.

5. Cases of underutilized Non Timber Forest Products
- Bush Mango (Irvingia spp.): Irvingia gabonensis and Irvingia wombulu
- Fruits, kernels, barks, seeds, and wood are used
- Consumed as juice, condiment, tickening agent, cooking oil, medecine
to clean the belly of women’s who have just given birth, building
materials and energy (fuelwood)
- Rich in carbohydrate, fiber, vitamins C and A and minerals (mainly
iron, zinc and copper). The good fat content, mainly lipids, makes its
oil suitable for frying
- The fruits of Irvingia gabonensis begin to appear in March in the
Southwest Region, July in the Central Region and finally between July
and August in the Southern Region

6. - Depending on the availability (good/bad production season), women
can generate income for an average of USD2000 to USD9000 per year
- High consumer countries are Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon and Equatorial
Guinea …
- Women are the main actors in bush mango exploitation; they used the
fruits. Men are more interested with wood for construction.
- Well dried the fruit can last more than one year

7. - Njansang (Ricinodendron heudelotii)
- Kernels are the most used
- Processed into powder or paste and used as a sauce ingredient; the
oil is directly consumed or used in pharmaceuticals
- Facilitate the consumption of other foods, and directly contribute to
the nutritional balance of consumers
- High protein content and rich in micro nutrients, in lipids,
carbohydrates, calcium and iron
- Production period is between July and October
- Processing techniques are very difficult and remain rudimentary

8. - Depending on the availability (good/bad production season),
women can generate income for an average of USD 1400 to
USD 3500 per year
- High consumer countries are Gabon, Cameroon, Congo and
Equatorial Guinea …
- The powder is packaged in bags and the kernels are preserved
dried

9. Main factors hindering the development of
the NTFPs in general
- Lack of control over the production seasons due to uncontrollable natural
factors (climate change impacts)
- Insufficient and inadequate market information (quantities, quality, prices,
availability and places of production) for wholesale buyers
- Poor road infrastructures and isolation of the production zones
- Lack of adequate equipments for harvesting, processing and conservation
- Trees are becoming rare and women need to work long distances into the
forest

10. Actions to promote some underutilized key
nutritious food from forest
- Support the development of NTFP small scale community/women-based
enterprises:
- Technical, financial, organizational, technological capacities
development mechanisms;
- By-products, marketing, conservation, …
- Support value-chain development of high potential nutritious and
economic NTFP
- Knowledge of the products, production and processing techniques, …
- Ensure that women especially have secure access to the resources by
regulating use rights
- Develop food security regulations and strategies that include NTFP as
well as forests

11. To promote underutilized nutritious forest foods in Cameroon, there is a need to
empower the women, the key actors in this sector. Investing on women is improving
household livelihood and wellbeing!
Thank you very much!