Understanding the links between agriculture and health: Agrobiodiversity, nutrition, and health

Johns, Timothy; Smith, Ifeyironwa Francisca; Eyzaguirre, Pablo B. Understanding the links between agriculture and health: Agrobiodiversity, nutrition, and health. 2020 Vision Focus Brief. 13(12). International Food Policy Research Institute https://doi.org/10.2499/Focus13CH12.

Biodiversity provides essential components of healthy environments and sustainable livelihoods. One key component of biodiversity is agrobiodiversity—that is, the cultivated plants and animals that form the raw material of agriculture, the wild foods and other products gathered by rural populations within traditional subsistence systems, and organisms such as pollinators and soil biota... Agrobiodiversity used and conserved in a livelihood context can directly contribute to nutrition, health, and income generation... Efforts to encourage farmers to grow a greater range of agrobiodiversity have had success when they simultaneously increase demand through promotion to consumers, provide technical and management support to farmers, and help create market opportunities.