Advancing ethnobiology for the ecological transition and a more inclusive and just world: a comprehensive framework for the next 20 years.

This opinion piece, written by ethnobiologists from different parts of the world, emphasizes the importance of ethnobiology research in advancing contemporary biology, natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, and, especially, contributing to the ecological transition and more just and inclusive world. To achieve these goals, it is essential to develop research and collaborate with social groups that live in close relationship with nature in research activities, such as Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC), as well as Afro-descendants and other Marginalized, Minority or Minoritized Communities (AMMC). Ethnobiology can identify and provide locally appropriate solutions to local problems, enabling sustainable resource management at the landscape level. The text explores important aspects that need to be considered to guide the future of ethnobiology in the next 20 years, aiming to integrate and amplify previous discussions held in the discipline and identify points that demand ongoing attention. This paper highlights reflections from diverse researchers, emphasizing how ethnobiology can embrace different perspectives and employ rigorous analysis of complex phenomena toward effective policies and practices. This approach holds the potential to address the challenges the planet is currently facing in the coming decades.

Biodiversity is overlooked in the diets of different social groups in Brazil.

Food biodiversity is essential for improving nutrition and reducing hunger in populations worldwide. However, in middle and low-income countries, the biodiversity of food production does not necessarily represent food consumption patterns by population. We used Brazil, one of the world's megabiodiverse countries, as a case study to investigate the following questions: what is the prevalence of consumption of biodiverse foods in Brazil, and what are the socioeconomic factors that influence their consumption throughout the country? We used data from a Brazilian representative national dietary survey to estimate the frequency of food consumption of unconventional food plants, edible mushrooms, and wild meat, in according to socioeconomic variables. Thus, we investigated the socioeconomic predictors of Unconventional Food Plants consumption using methods of Machine Learning (ML) and multiple zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) regression. We showed that biodiverse food consumption in Brazil is low, just related by 1.3% of the population, varying in according to area, ethnicity, age, food insecurity, sex, and educational level. Our findings of low utilization of biodiversity suggest an important mismatch between the rich biodiversity of the country and its representation in the human diet.

Assessment of Biodiversity in Food Consumption Studies: A Systematic Review.

The assessment of food biodiversity has gained importance in nutrition due to the positive association between the diversity of foods consumed and the quality of diets. To date, however, we do not know systematically how food consumption studies address food biodiversity. Our objective with this paper was to characterize how food consumption studies address biodiverse foods, both in terms of (i) new methods capable of overcoming the limitations of existing methods, and (ii) indicators capable of measuring the contribution of biodiversity to nutrition. We conducted a systematic review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA), using four databases: Web of Science, Medline/PubMed (via National Library of Medicine), Scopus, and Google Scholar. We selected papers focused on the consumption of biodiverse foods without time constraints. In addition, we assessed the methodological quality of the studies we selected. We reviewed a total of 22 studies, and summarized the methods and indicators most used. We found that some researchers used biodiversity mapping strategies based on ethnographic approaches before the dietary assessment. Regarding dietary assessment tools, retrospective direct methods were the most used by researchers. We list 23 indicators used by the authors, among them the Dietary Species Richness (DSR), used in 18% of the studies. Studies that used biodiversity mapping strategies based on ethnographic approaches before the dietary assessment portrayed the local availability of biodiverse foods more consistently, i.e., presented lists with local edible species satisfactorily identified. We believe researchers in the future can avoid many of the limitations of current methods by ensuring that teams are interprofessional. We emphasize that most of the indicators we summarized are not sensitive enough to biodiversity since they do not measure edible resources at the species level. In this sense, the DSR is promising, because it fills information gaps, especially in the case of wild or neglected species.

Rapid Ethnonutrition Assessment Method Is Useful to Prototype Dietary Assessments with a Focus on Local Biodiverse Food Plants.

Ethnonutrition is the study of diets in the context of food systems of different peoples and cultures. Its scope comprises native or local categories used to classify food, and also includes biodiverse food availability, local culinary techniques, seasonality, and cultural perceptions related to diet with nutritional implications. Here, we describe a method useful for gathering ethnonutrition data to design dietary interventions or assessments, the Rapid Ethnonutrition Assessment (REA). REA is a tool that offers food and nutrition research a broad biocultural view of diets, considering food system-level, by prototyping dietary assessments with high efficiency. This method permits us to prevent misinterpretations that lead to wrong conclusions in nutritional research.

Insegurança alimentar e nutricional no Brasil e sua correlação com indicadores de vulnerabilidade / Food and nutritional insecurity in Brazil and its correlation with vulnerability markers

Resumo O objetivo do estudo foi analisar a distribuição espaço-temporal da prevalência de IAN nas Unidades de Federação (UF) do Brasil e sua correlação com indicadores de vulnerabilidade. Estudo ecológico, com dados da Pesquisa Nacional Amostra de Domicílios (2004, 2009 e 2013) e do Altas Brasil (2010). Realizou-se análise temporal da distribuição espacial das prevalências de IAN. Na análise espacial bivariada foi utilizado o Índice de Moran. As prevalências de IAN diminuíram nos anos analisados e apresentaram correlação espacial negativa e moderada com o IDH; positiva e moderada com porcentagem de extremamente pobres, mortalidade infantil, índice de vulnerabilidade social, índice de vulnerabilidade social capital humano; positiva e forte com índice de vulnerabilidade social renda e trabalho. Conclui-se que houve diminuição da prevalência de IAN nos anos analisados e que o território brasileiro apresentou dois padrões distintos: territórios com maiores prevalências de IAN e piores condições de renda, trabalho e saúde infantil nas regiões Norte e Nordeste; e territórios com menores prevalências de IAN e menor vulnerabilidade nas regiões Centro-Oeste, Sudeste e Sul.

Abstract This study aimed to analyze space-time distribution of the prevalence of food and nutritional insecurity (FNI) in the Brazilian Federative Units and their correlation with vulnerability markers. This is an ecological study, with data from the National Household Sample Survey (2004, 2009 and 2013) and Atlas Brazil (2010). A time analysis of the spatial distribution of FNI prevalence was performed. Moran's Index was used in bivariate spatial analysis. The prevalence of FNI have decreased along the years studied and showed a negative and moderate spatial correlation with the Human Development Index; a positive and moderate correlation with the percentage of the extremely poor, child mortality, social vulnerability index, human capital social vulnerability index; and positive and strong correlation with income and work social vulnerability index. We can conclude that there was a lower prevalence of FNI in the analyzed years and that the Brazilian territory showed two distinct patterns: territories with higher FNI prevalence and worse conditions as regards income, work and child health in the North and Northeast; and territories with lower FNI prevalence and lower vulnerability in the Midwest, Southeast and South.

Food and nutritional insecurity in Brazil and its correlation with vulnerability markers. / Insegurança alimentar e nutricional no Brasil e sua correlação com indicadores de vulnerabilidade.

This study aimed to analyze space-time distribution of the prevalence of food and nutritional insecurity (FNI) in the Brazilian Federative Units and their correlation with vulnerability markers. This is an ecological study, with data from the National Household Sample Survey (2004, 2009 and 2013) and Atlas Brazil (2010). A time analysis of the spatial distribution of FNI prevalence was performed. Moran's Index was used in bivariate spatial analysis. The prevalence of FNI have decreased along the years studied and showed a negative and moderate spatial correlation with the Human Development Index; a positive and moderate correlation with the percentage of the extremely poor, child mortality, social vulnerability index, human capital social vulnerability index; and positive and strong correlation with income and work social vulnerability index. We can conclude that there was a lower prevalence of FNI in the analyzed years and that the Brazilian territory showed two distinct patterns: territories with higher FNI prevalence and worse conditions as regards income, work and child health in the North and Northeast; and territories with lower FNI prevalence and lower vulnerability in the Midwest, Southeast and South.

O objetivo do estudo foi analisar a distribuição espaço-temporal da prevalência de IAN nas Unidades de Federação (UF) do Brasil e sua correlação com indicadores de vulnerabilidade. Estudo ecológico, com dados da Pesquisa Nacional Amostra de Domicílios (2004, 2009 e 2013) e do Altas Brasil (2010). Realizou-se análise temporal da distribuição espacial das prevalências de IAN. Na análise espacial bivariada foi utilizado o Índice de Moran. As prevalências de IAN diminuíram nos anos analisados e apresentaram correlação espacial negativa e moderada com o IDH; positiva e moderada com porcentagem de extremamente pobres, mortalidade infantil, índice de vulnerabilidade social, índice de vulnerabilidade social capital humano; positiva e forte com índice de vulnerabilidade social renda e trabalho. Conclui-se que houve diminuição da prevalência de IAN nos anos analisados e que o território brasileiro apresentou dois padrões distintos: territórios com maiores prevalências de IAN e piores condições de renda, trabalho e saúde infantil nas regiões Norte e Nordeste; e territórios com menores prevalências de IAN e menor vulnerabilidade nas regiões Centro-Oeste, Sudeste e Sul.