Importance Of Biological Diversity In Food And On Human Health

NEWS COMMENTARY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY IN FOOD AND ON HUMAN HEALTH FOLLOWING THE OBSERVATION OF WORLD BIODIVERSITY DAY

The celebration of this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity, is a wake up call for everybody, to begin to take seriously our changing environment and its implications for people’s lives. Biological diversity refers to all different kinds of life on earth including the sea. Biodiversity in the form of trees purify the air, maintain the soil, regulates climate, recycle nutrients and provides us with food. They also provide raw materials and resources for medicines and other purposes. There are reports by the UN indicating that more than 90 percent of crop varieties and half of the breeds of domestic animals are being wiped out. Furthermore, all the main fishing grounds are now being utilised at or above their sustainable limits.

Ghana, is not exempted from biodiversity loss. This is evident in the disappearance of some indigenous yam such as Nkeni, Nkamfuoo and kookoasi Bayere among the Akans. In the area of local spices like Efom Wisa and Hwentiaa; these have almost vanished from soups and stews, paving the way for foreign ones. In the midst of this gradual progression of spices loss, it is possible that some indigenous delicious foods and their methods of preparation, will eventually be lost forever. Are Ghanaian and Nigerian fufu lovers aware that tree species that were originally used to carve pestle and mortars, are very scarce to come by now in our forests? So, carvers are resorting to the use other tree species, which our ancestors would never have used for that purpose. Thankfully, technology is helping to address the problem – so we now have powdered fufu and fufu pounding machines. But we must not forget that technology hinges on natural resources and to a large extent, require biological resources to mimic to come out with other products. Moreover, biological diversity is what accounts for the distinct diversity among humans and therefore the uniqueness of our foods which give us our cultural identity.

It is for this reason that Ghanaians need to take a very serious view of the destruction of our biological diversity through unprecedented selective logging of tree species like the Rosewood, illegal mining, and unsustainable agricultural practices coupled with climate change effects and impacts. Globally, the helplessness, and hopelessness that humans will face, should the current spate of destruction of biodiversity continue unchecked, is the underlining factor of the recently released UN Report, by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The report warns that nature is declining globally at an unprecedented level in human history and the rate of species extinction is accelerating. This is worrying because the health of ecosystems on which human beings and all other species depend, is deteriorating is affected. People are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life. According to the report, all is not lost because there is still time to make a difference. This difference can be made by immediate actions from local to global levels through transformative change. We need to prompt people to appreciate biological diversity as the foundation for our food and health, and also as a major catalyst to transforming food systems and improving human health. By including our indigenous food stuffs in our daily meals, diseases like type two diabetes, high blood pressure among others will be reduced thus cutting budgetary allocation to the health sector. Thanks to the Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research at Bunso in the Eastern Region which is preserving indigenous plant species for future use and also protecting them from extinction. Encouraging farmers to plant some of the indigenous species as currently being done is encouraging. What individuals can do in order not to lose our identity when it comes to indigenous food is to reduce our appetite for foreign crops which have been identified as nowhere comparable to local crops in terms of nutritional value. This will go a long way to fulfill the objective of the theme: Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health. Co-existence of different biological species is important to sustain human live. There are no two ways about this.

BY: Ama Kudom-Agyemang, an Environmental Communicator.