Presentation given by Dr. Bruce Cogill at the International Horticultural Congress 2014. The world has a historically unprecedented abundance of food, though contemporary food systems face numerous new challenges from population growth, natural resource depletion, and rapid dietary transitions away from diverse, locally-sourced and sustainable mix of foods towards diets dominated by homogenous, highly-processed, energy-dense, and animal-source foods The alarming increase in diet and lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) alongside persistent poverty and undernutrition demands a reassessment of dietary choices, guidelines, policies and programmes. This presentation presents 5 case studies on the contribution of diverse foods, particularly indigenous fruits and vegetables, to culturally-acceptable, cost-effective, sustainable, and nutritious diets. Read more about our work on diet diversity for nutrition and health here: http://www.bioversityinternational.org/research-portfolio/diet-diversity/ Understanding sustainable diets - Four papers, three published in high impact peer-reviewed journals, further our understanding of sustainable diets. Find out more here: http://www.bioversityinternational.org/news/detail/understanding-sustainable-diets/

1. Contribution of Indigenous fruits and
vegetables to dietary diversity and quality
Bruce Cogill, Ph.D. Keynote 45 SYM13 Friday 22
August 2014

2. OUTLINE
Section 1: Global malnutrition
Section 2: Consequences of changing diet
Section 3: Reasons for trends
Section 4: Policy and programme actions
Section 5: What is the evidence
Section 6: Five case studies
Section 7: Challenges
Section 8: Conclusions

3. Section 1: Global malnutrition

4. Changing Diets – 10 major food
companies
Source: The Huffington Post, April 2012

5. Dietary transition
• Changing markets
• Refrigeration
• Changing
consumer
demands
• Changing
lifestyles
• Urbanization

6. Section 2: Consequences

7. Increasing contribution of NCDs to cause of
death (Rural Bangladesh 1986-2006)
7
Source: http://www.globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/19/2301
Rising NCDs
Type 2
diabetes,
cardiovascula
r diseases,
some
cancers,
obesity

8. Section 3: Reasons for trends

9. Less choices, more choices
300,000
100,000
30,000
7,000
120
30
3
- Known plant species
- Used by humans
- Edible
- Used as food at local
level
- Important at national
scale
- Provide 90% of plant
calories
- Provide 50% energy
supply (rice,

10. Section 4: Policy and programme
actions
PHOTO

11. 11
Dietary guidelines tell us something
• Diversity is key – sustainability is coming
• WHO (2003) ≥ 400 grams
of fruits and vegetables per day
• Other examples
- Brazil Food Guide
- Health Council Netherlands
- Swedish National Food Council
- Nordic Council
- Australia dietary guidelines

12. Treating and preventing under and overnutrition –
from pills to improved diet and livelihoods
12
Supple-ments
Nutrient
dense/Therapeuti
c
Fortification staple
foods Oils
Biofortification of staple foods
Food, diet diversity and quality
based solutions
September 2013
Nutrition Marketing Diversity Programme, Bioversity International

13. Section 5: What is the evidence?

14. Causality – bi-directional biodiversity 
diet diversity  diet quality
nutrition/health
14
• Challenges in understanding the
linkages, pathways of biodiversity in
human nutrition and health (Hough
2014)
• Reductionist approach to nutrition
with focus on single nutrients and
foods (Hoffman 2003 and
Burlingame 2004)

15. Some challenges to understanding
relationships and action (Diverse Diet –
Nutrition)
15
• Complex
• Lack of clear definition of what is
meant by biodiversity and diet
diversity
• Modelling is challenging with
complex pathways and limited or
different levels of data
• Lots of studies associating
environmental change and
dietary diversity

16. What is the evidence?
• The value of traditional foods and
diets is being re-evaluated
worldwide (e.g. the Mediterranean
diet)
• All countries have valuable and
rich traditional foods
• There is a need to assess the
relative nutritional benefits and
related health outcomes of these
traditional foods and dietary
patterns

17. State of Origin – “Common” Fruits and Vegetables
Source: memolition.com

18. Key concepts
Concepts Aspects include
Indigenous /
traditional /
local foods
• Indigenous foods, locally produced usually with
traditional systems
• Socially and culturally accepted as local food
• Eaten by ancestors or introduced for a very long time
Introduced/
exotic foods
• Foods consumed now but not consumed by ancestors
• Imported
• Not socially and culturally accepted as specific local
food
• Non traditionally processed (industrially processed )
• Locally produced foods of recent introduction in the area
Abandoned
foods
Foods consumed by ancestors but not consumed now
Ultra
Processed
Processed ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat food products
consumed as snacks or to replace home-prepared dishes
Food
diversity
Number of different foods/food groups

19. 19
Comparison of nutrient content of select
South Pacific Fruits and Vegetables
(per 100 g)

20. Section 6: Five case studies – on the role
of indigenous fruit and vegetables

21. 21
Case Study 1: From
indigenous food to global
commodity – Arugula or
Rocket Eruca sativa
• 1994 -1998: Project on underutilized
Mediterranean species
• By research and advocacy
• Italian project’s experience evolved
over the years into a solid framework
now being tested and disseminated to
many countries around the world
Source: S. Padulosi, Bioversity International

22. 22
Case Study 2: Bananas and beta-carotene
Cavendish Common
Variety
<5 μg/100g pro-Vit A
carotenoid
South Pacific banana varieties
<8500 μg/100g pro-Vit A carotenoid
Source: Burlingame, FAO (2013) and Bioversity
International

23. Case Study 3: Traditional African leafy
vegetables (ALV) in Kenya
• Local ALV - nutritious, affordable,
adapted to local growing conditions
and cultural traditions
• 2007: Over 40 different species
(10% wild) including Amaranth,
African nightshade, cowpea,
pumpkin, spider plant, bitter lettuce
and vine spinach
• Considered to be an inferior good
but consumption rising –
information lacking
IMPACT
Of those growing ALVs, 52%
participated in marketing
2/3 households reported
increased incomes, while ½
reported increased consumption
No Diet or Nutrition assessment
(Gotor and Irungu, 2010)
Also see ARDC

24. Case Study 4: Role of wild foods
in reducing the cost of a
nutritionally adequate diet in
Baringo District, Kenya
Bioversity International, Save the Children UK and the
Museums of Kenya
Objective: Documenting the role of wild and underutilized
foods in reducing the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet
for children aged 6 to 24 months and women
Method:
• Ethnobotanical surveys to inventory wild species
• Market price assessments and seasonality
• Culturally acceptable average food consumption
frequencies and portion sizes
• Selection of 5 wild neglected and underutlized
species (NUS) for modelling in Cost of Diet analysis
• Cost of Diet linear programming to assess the cost
of a locally appropriate, culturally acceptable, cost-optimized,
nutritious diet in dry and wet season.
Analysis with and without wild NUS foods.

25. Percentage of nutrient requirements met by the modelled diet without wild foods (only
deficient nutrients are shown) and additional percentage of nutrient requirements met
by including all 5 wild foods together or the wild fruit Berchemia discolor apart in the
modeled diet for the dry and wet season

26. Case Study 4: Results from Running LP
Tool
Without wild foods:
• modelled diets were deficient in Fe for all age
groups (women and children) during dry season
• Infants aged 6 to 8 months: Vit. B6 and Ca
deficient during dry season, Fe and Zn deficient
the whole year
Ziziphus mauritiana
With 5 wild foods:
• modelled diet could lower the cost of the diets
(up to 64% for some age groups) and
contributed to meet FAO/WHO recommended
nutrient intakes
• Berchemia discolor had the highest impact on
the cost of the diet and on meeting
recommended nutrient intakes for Fe
•With or without wild foods, it was not possible
to meet all recommended nutrient intakes in all
seasons for children aged 6 to 12 months
Berchemia discolor
Balanites aegyptiaca
Ximenia americana
Solanum nigrum

27. potatoes from indigenous staple to
global phenomenon
Plant breeding, adaptation, behaviour change,
consumer
Source: Low et al. 2009; Harvest Plus

28. Section 7: What are the challenges in
identifying and promoting indigenous
fruits and vegetables to improve
dietary quality
28

29. 29
Some Challenges include:
• Confusing nomenclature
• Lack of identification, naming and
cataloguing
• Propagation and value chains
underdeveloped
• Considered an inferior product or
good
• Need to be commercial, scalable,
and researchable
• Quality control, food safety,
information

30. 30
Questionable nutrition and health claims
• Superfood claims e.g. moringa, kale, açai
• Elevated nutrient and health claims
• Lack of understanding of nutrient content/bioavailability
• Interactions among nutrients and food
components
• Food handling, processing and preparation
• Level of intake or dose
Source: www.kulikulifoods.com

31. Section 8: Conclusions

32. Concluding observations I
• We need to climb out of the reductionist hole – Look at Food Systems
& Diet Patterns
• A ‘Whole of Diet’ Approach - Foods are more than just the sum of
nutrients, agricultural systems more than the sum of crops => whole of
diet / landscape approaches are needed
• Optimize use of available biodiversity to provide quality diets, decent
incomes and sustainable production systems while conserving
biodiversity for future generations
• Better evidence and tools, such as linear programming, to identify
nutrient gaps, and optimize the choices of foods across the seasons
to close gaps

33. Concluding observations II
• Local populations have a wealth of knowledge on biodiversity and
indigenous fruits and vegetables plus rigorous science
• Evidence of the importance of dietary diversity including fruits and
vegetables and dietary quality with links to both over and undernutrition
and some diet related NCDs
• Less evidence of links between indigenous fruits and vegetables and
dietary quality. This is due to the lack of standard measures, data and the
challenges of modelling complex systems. There are plenty of anecdotes
and case studies but attribution remains a challenge
• Given public, private sector and even some policy interest in the
importance of indigenous fruits and vegetables, especially given diet
transition and rising diet related non communicable diseases, there is a
strong need to:
o generate better evidence of the health and nutrition attributes;
o ensure the cultural and non-nutrition aspects are captured and shared;
o identify the scalability and accessibility of these foods;
o further develop and reach agreement around measurements of
biodiversity, diet diversity and intake;
o look for opportunities to monitor policies and programmes that link
biodiversity, indigenous fruits and vegetables and nutrition; and
o engage with teaching and other capacity strengthening to improve training
and capacity.

34. Indigenous fruits and vegetables --We
need to know more
• Food components appreciated by consumers, manufacturers,
etc.
• Diversity, hardy, good adaptability, versatility in use, resilient,
sustainable
• Rich food culture and traditions
• Not easily scalable compared with some commodity crops
• Lack of improved/enhanced varieties and practices
• Lack of information on nutrient content, development etc.
• Drudgery in processing
• Disorganized or non-existent market chains
• Perception of being ‘food of the poor’
• Scarcely represented in ex situ collections
+
–

35. The 29th International Horticultural Congress 17-22
August 2014 Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Brisbane, Australia
SYMPOSIUM No. 13: Promoting the
Future of Indigenous Vegetables
Worldwide
Plaza Room 9
b.cogill@cgiar.org
For more info:
www.bioversityinternational.org