Mainstreaming Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition into Policies and Practices: Methodologies and Lessons Learned from Four Countries

Year 2019, Volume: 29 Issue: 1, 25 - 38, 24.05.2019

Daniela Beltrame Eliot Gee Birgül Güner Nina O. Laurıdsen W. L. Gamini Samarasınghe Victor W. Wasıke Danny Hunter Terase Borellı

https://doi.org/10.18615/anadolu.568795

Cited By: 4

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper outlines the methodology for mainstreaming
biodiversity developed by the Biodiversity
for Food and Nutrition Project (BFN), a multi-country initiative led by Brazil, Kenya,
Sri Lanka and Turkey. BFN
explored the nutritional properties of traditional and/or neglected native
edible species, both wild and cultivated (including varieties and landraces),
and used this knowledge to incorporate local agricultural biodiversity into
national and global policy instruments that address food and nutrition security
through the promotion of healthy, diversified and sustainable diets. Across the
four countries, the project adopted a three-pillar approach for mainstreaming
biodiversity for food and nutrition into policies and practices by: 1)
Providing Evidence, 2) Influencing Policy, and 3) Raising Awareness. Case study
examples from Brazil, Kenya, Turkey,
and Sri Lanka
demonstrate how the approach can be adapted to suit specific country contexts
and how a multi-level, cross-sectoral partnership-based approach can create an
enabling environment for mainstreaming biodiversity to improve nutrition.

Keywords

Biodiversity, traditional and neglected edible species, multi-country, policymaking, nutrition, mainstreaming.

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