ABSTRACT
African forests play a key role in food and nutrition security by supporting global and local ecosystem services that benefit the livelihoods of millions of people. Varying deforestation trends across the region reflect different historical contexts and complex interactions between local, national, and global drivers whose role cannot be generalised. Food production is expected to remain a major driver of land use change in Africa in the near future, and the need to feed its growing and urbanising population may have important implications for its forests. Africa is perceived to hold large reserves of suitable land to increase and expand profitable agricultural production and support global food security, but there are considerable socio-economic challenges to realising this potential, and potential environmental and social costs. Different approaches are proposed to increase food and nutrition security in Africa whilst conserving or increasing forest cover: increasing productivity on existing agricultural land (or new land outside forests) to spare or restore forests, or promoting more nature-friendly low input systems where food production and forest values are shared. Depending on the starting point in terms of forest extent and state and the agroecological and socio-economic context at different scales, the most appropriate solutions likely combine both approaches. There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to reconciling food security with forest conservation.
