May 2004, id21 insights health #5

Natural resource management and human health: the forgotten link?

Almost 75% of the world’s poorest people (around 3 billion) depend on agriculture, forestry or fisheries to secure their work and household income. It is estimated that agricultural productivity will have to double over the next few decades to keep up with population growth. Many of the technologies developed to extend agricultural productivity also have beneficial impacts upon human health and well-being. Links between natural resources research and better health for the poor have been constantly under-valued, with limited formal interaction and lesson learning between the two sectors. What can be done to overcome these sectoral divisions in development research and policy?
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CABI scientists use cartoons to warn of pesticide dangers in Kenya www.cabi.org

Other articles in this issue:

Supporting local knowledge and protecting resources

Community knowledge about natural resources is often over-looked. Research is aiding the better under standing and documentation of this knowledge and facilitating sustainable management of resources.

A better working environment

At least 70% of the energy required for food production comes from human effort alone. These tasks are often highly demanding and can cause ill health. In many developing countries, women and children undertake the majority of daily tasks in the home and in agricultural production; this is likely to increase further due to labour shortages caused by male migration to cities or loss of family members to HIV/AIDS.

Improving family nutrition

More than 180 million (33%) of pre-school children are malnourished and malnutrition is a factor in more than half the deaths of children under five in developing countries. Malnourished mothers tend to give birth to low birth-weight babies, who in turn are susceptible to disease. Productivity increases in agriculture are important for gains in child survival but so too are improvements in the nutritional value of available foods.

Food systems and security helping the poor to cope

Food security can be defined as ‘having enough physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food’. Threats include the ability of people to deal with declining farm productivity or the loss of assets before or after harvest. Increasingly, the traditional rural focus of food security is shifting due to rapid urbanisation and growing urban slums.

Animal to human controlling diseases which affect poor people and their livestock

Animals belonging to poor people often suffer, like their owners, from ill health. Many of the diseases affecting livestock can be transmitted to humans. The best known and most feared of these ‘zoonotic’ diseases is rabies, and others include bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, sleeping sickness and various tapeworms. These diseases are often difficult to diagnose, have high fatality rates and are easily confused with other more common ailments.

Sustainable solutions to improve environmental and human health

Agriculture is the most important user of environmental resources, including water, forests, pastures, soil and nutrients. Poorly managed agriculture can lead to environmental degradation and pollution, deplete natural resources and compromise food safety and human health. Sustainable agriculture provides environmental services that are important to society in urban and rural areas, locally and globally.

Gut reaction
Simple steps to improve food safety and sanitation

Food safety and sanitation are as important to human health as increased production and consumption of nutritious foods. The increasing rise of urban and peri-urban horticulture has been accompanied by concerns about heavy-metal or microbial contamination of produce from use of sewage-contaminated water to irrigate crops, or through air pollution from vehicles or industries.

Spreading the word

Good communication is vital to ensure that the impact of research outputs, reach the widest audience possible. Public-private partnerships and closer working between the agriculture, education and health sectors, are proving exciting and innovative mechanisms for sharing resources and information to enhance the effectiveness and uptake of research.

DFID Renewable Natural Resources Research Programmes

Glossary

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