Food

The world currently produces enough to feed the global population of 7 billion people. Today, the world produces 17% more food per person than 30 years ago, with the rate of production having increased faster than the population over the last 2 decades. Of all ecosystem services, food production is one that has shown consistently upward trend in recent history. Nevertheless, it is now recognized that the gains in agricultural production and productivity were often accompanied by negative effects on agriculture's natural resource base jeopardizing its productive potential in the future. Ecosystem approaches to agriculture intensification have emerged over the past two decades as farmers began to adopt sustainable practices, critical to realizing the benefits of ecosystem services while reducing the negative impact from agricultural activities.

Livestock provides nearly one-third of humanity's protein intake. Animal products play a very important role in human nutrition, especially for micronutrients. Ruminant livestock can digest cellulose in grass and convert it to human edible proteins which is the only way to produce food on wide rangeland areas that are not suitable to grow crops. However, other livestock production systems are based on cereals which can lead to a competition between food for humans and feed for livestock.

The capture and culture of marine and freshwater fish contribute a significant amount of animal protein to the diets of people worldwide. It is estimated that between 15 and 20 percent of all animal proteins come from aquatic animals. Fish is highly nutritious and serves as a valuable supplement in diets lacking essential vitamins and minerals - and it a unique source of long chain omega-3 fats. The sector also derives crucial cash earnings and employment from the food services. Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing food producing sectors and provides half of all fish for human consumption.

The Non-Timber Forest products also contribute to a large part of the nutrition in developing countries.