Less visible but yet vital for human health: Nutrient-dense indigenous vegetables and their need for urgent promotion in balanced diets

Transcription

1 AVRDC and the Diversity for Development Alliance is Fostering a Revolution in Diets for Good Health! FAO Rome Holmer Ebert Hughes Less visible but yet vital for human health: Nutrient-dense indigenous vegetables and their need for urgent promotion in balanced diets By J.D.H. Keatinge, R.J. Holmer, A.W. Ebert and J d A. Hughes

2 Malnutrition and mortality Southeast Asia Under-five mortality rate 2010 (per 1,000 live births) Noncommunicable diseases cause more than 60% of deaths Singapore 3 Thailand 13 Philippines 29 Viet Nam 23 Brunei Darussalam 7 Cambodia 51 Indonesia 35 Major risk factors Poor diet and physical inactivity Tobacco Alcohol Myanmar 66 Malaysia 6 Lao PDR 54 United Nations Children s Fund Levels and Trends in Child Mortality.

3 Asian vegetables Slide 3 (11/2011) Photo source:

4 Share of vegetable consump6on in Asia (min. 200 g/day/person) Eastern Asia 38 Western Asia 23 Central Asia 23 S Asia 9 SE Asia g/day 423 g/day 422 g/day 171 g/day 144 g/day 87% 56% 59% 71% 88% Other veg 7% 5% 36% 29% 14% 8% 12% 15% Tomatoes 4% 8% Onion Slide 4 (11/2011) Data source FAOSTAT 2010

5 Indigenous nutrient-dense vegetables can be used to overcome malnutrition cheaply and permanently Over 5000 varieties of indigenous vegetables are maintained at AVRDC Clitoria ternata: A multipurpose use IV Hibiscus sabdariffa: A very good source of vitamin C

6 Flowers Medicine Cosmetics Bark Dyes Medicine Leaves Nutrition Medicine Stem Fuel wood Pulp Paper Gum Medicine Glue Root s Medicine Condiment Drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera) Pods Nutrition Medicine Seeds Water purification Medicine Oil

7 Moringa drouhardii Moringa oleifera Moringa stenopetala Moringa peregrina Slide 7 (RYY, Jan 2012) 7

8 Nutrients in four Moringa species Specie DM Prot. g b- Car mg Vit C mg Vit E mg Iron mg Ca mg olerifera stenopetala peregrina drouhardii No stachyose or raffinose were detected in leaves Low in oxalate (~25 mg/100g, only 5% of oxalate in spinach) 100 g fresh mature leaves Slide 8 (RYY, Jan 2012) 8

9 High density planting and pruning enable convenient and continuous harvests of young shoots Slide 9 (RYY, Jan 2012) 9

10 Slippery cabbage in the Solomons Leafy greens in PNG Nutrient-dense vegetables are vital to good health in developing countries. Underinvestment in research means that they lack competitiveness and improved seed availability is an issue

11 Around 1000 species of plants are known to have been used as vegetables and about 120 are commonly used for home consumption 1 st Int. Conference on indigenous vegetables and legumes: Prospects for fighting poverty, hunger and malnutrition ISHS 2007 Proc. Of the Int. Symp. On underutilized plants for food security, nutrition, income and sustainable development ISHS 2009

12 No. of accessions approx. 60,000 No. of species 435 No. of countries of origin 155 We now need: Not a Green Revolution, but a Revolution with Greens! The world s largest public sector collection of vegetable germplasm

13 Performance and seed multiplication of amaranth in Indonesia and Philippines Lembang Cipanas Garut 14 amaranth lines tested alongside 2 control lines

14 Towards greater awareness and better promotion Policy support research is vital:- Greater and continuous efforts to promote healthy eating, improve nutritional literacy, and improve access to fruit and vegetables Increased availability of fruit and vegetables in rural and urban markets needed to encourage farmers, the private sector, and consumers to produce, distribute, and consume more diverse food Policy support for seed systems is needed now for both the public and private sectors Slide 14 / 50

15 Achieving universal primary education (MDG 2): School garden programs Opportunities: Linking with School Health, Feeding and Sanitation Programs Living laboratory for children (and parents) Sales of vegetables to teachers and parents bring revenue and help educate the community Excess produce can be for school feeding programs Philippines Gulayan sa Paaralan program now in 42,076 public schools

16 Public awareness, Promoting IVs: Oh My Gulay! Campaign in the Philippines

17 Home gardens household nutrition in the hands of women Demonstration home garden and a selection of recipes for India

18 Michael S.Y. Yiin presenting AVRDC emergency relief seed funded by MOFA Taiwan to vice-president KU, Bangkok May 2011

19 Home gardens household nutrition in the hands of women Increasing knowledge on nutrition and cooking methods 19!

20 Improving the food value of the crop Development of recipes to improve nutritional value, and extension through training programs +

21 Climate change and environmental sustainability Climate change and climatic events Degradation of agro-biological diversity Environmental stability/resilience Importance of diversity in cropping systems to buffer risks

22 AVRDC, Tainan Ave Temp - AVRDC Y= X, R 2 =0.49** (n=37) 25.0 ave temp oc Year TARI, Taichung Ave temp - TARI, Taichung ( ) 3.90 o C/100 years ave temp oc Y= X, R 2 =0.39**, (n=26) Year

23 31 st AVRDC International Vegetable Training Course 2012

24 The World Vegetable 40 Prosperity for the Poor and Health for All