By Abdullahi Lukman
Forests and trees are vital to global food security, nutrition and livelihoods, but their contribution remains largely absent from national food and agricultural policies, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The report, Forests for food: Nourishing people, sustaining the planet, says more than 5 billion people depend on forests and trees to some extent for their livelihoods.
It calls on governments to integrate forests into agrifood system policies to help address hunger, poverty and growing environmental pressures.
The report comes as about 645 million people experienced chronic hunger in 2025, while the world lost an average of 10.9 million hectares of forest each year over the past decade.
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said sustainable forest management is essential to building food systems that are more resilient, inclusive and sustainable.
Forests contribute directly to diets by providing fruits, nuts, roots, tubers, mushrooms, edible insects and wild meat. More than 50,000 wild species are used for food, medicine and other purposes, including at least 10,000 species consumed directly as food.
In some forest-dependent communities, wild foods provide up to 80 percent of daily protein needs. Forest products also supply vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and other nutrients that can be lacking in vulnerable populations.
Beyond food, forests provide medicinal plants, fuel, income and employment. More than 1 billion people rely on forest-sourced medicinal plants, while about 1.8 billion people depend on wood fuel for cooking.
Forested watersheds also supply freshwater to more than 85 percent of major cities and support agriculture, livestock and fisheries through services such as water regulation, soil protection, pollination and biodiversity conservation.
The report highlights significant regional differences. In parts of Africa, wild meat can provide up to 80 percent of daily protein for some communities, while fish makes up a large share of food consumption in parts of the Amazon. Asia has the largest number of wild forest species used for food.
The report identifies weak data systems, fragmented policies and the lack of common methods for measuring the contribution of forest foods and ecosystem services as major barriers to better policy planning.
It recommends 12 actions, including developing integrated policies, promoting sustainable forest-food production, increasing investment, improving data and research, strengthening institutions and expanding cooperation between governments, communities, civil society and businesses.
FAO said the need to strengthen the role of forests is becoming more urgent as food and energy costs, economic instability and climate pressures affect food security, while the global population is expected to increase by nearly 1 billion people over the next 25 years.
The agency said it will continue supporting governments with forest data, technical expertise and policy guidance to incorporate forests more effectively into food security and nutrition strategies.
