@article{BOOK,
      recid = {76088},
      author = {Wopereis, MCS and van Zonneveld, M and Kuo, CG and  Larrousse, D and Schreinemachers, P},
      title = {The role of vegetables in Asia’s food and nutrition  security},
      publisher = {Singapore},
      address = {World Scientific Publishing. 2023},
      number = {BOOK},
      pages = {p. 1-18},
      abstract = {There are an estimated 150 species of vegetables  cultivated in Asia [Ma et al., 2009]. Major vegetables   (e.g. tomato, chili and pepper, onion, cabbage, and  cucumber) and vegetables of sub-regional importance  (e.g.  pumpkin, bitter gourd, mungbean, vegetable soybean, okra,  kangkong, amaranth) are terrestrial  herbaceous plants,  whereas other vegetables include aquatic plants (e.g. water  bamboo, watercress,  lotus); lower-vascular plants (ferns);  ocean algae (e.g. kelps, seaweeds); and saprophytic fungi   (mushrooms). Edible plant parts include sprouts, seedlings,  leaves, petioles, heads, fronds, stems, pseudostems,  non-starchy roots, rhizomes, corms, non-starchy tubers,  bulbs, flowers, fruits, seeds, and fungal  fruiting bodies  that contain diverse types and different concentrations of  beneficial compounds. This  enormous diversity of  vegetables in Asia is a great asset; it provides many  opportunities to adapt to local  growing conditions, adding  color, flavor, nutrients and health qualities to people’s  diets [Rubatzky and  Yamaguchi, 1999].  Vegetables have  tremendous nutritional value. They provide important  sources of essential  micronutrients (vitamins and  minerals), plant-based proteins, edible fibers and  antioxidants, all of which  are vital to healthy  development, disease prevention, and wellbeing. For  instance, the antioxidant properties of phytochemicals  inherent in various vegetables have protective functions  against the  oxidation of omega-3 oils, essential for good  health [Cheng et al., 2022]. An adequate vegetable intake   therefore helps to protect against malnutrition in all its  forms, as well as against chronic and noncommunicable  diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a  daily minimum fruit and  vegetable (F&V) intake of 5  portions or 400 g per adult per day, including at least 3  portions of vegetables  (~240 g) [WHO/FAO, 2003]. The  EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets from Sustainable  Food Systems  and the Global Burden of Disease study  [Afshin et al., 2019] even recommended daily mean intakes  of  fruit and vegetables of 300 g and 360 g, respectively.  Globally, dietary risks are among the top-5 global health  risk factors, with over 3.5 million deaths  and 99 million  Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Each DALY  represents the loss of the equivalent of  one year of full  health attributable to poor quality diet [Afshin et al.,  2019]. However, the reality is that 3 billion people on our  planet are unable to afford a healthy diet. More than half  of them (1.9 billion people)  live in Asia - the majority  in South Asia (1.3 billion people, 57% of the South Asia  population), followed by  Southeast Asia (0.32 billion, 46%  of the Southeast Asia population) and East Asia (0.23  billion, 16% of the  East Asia population). This is  strongly related to the cost of food with dairy, F&V and  protein-rich foods  accounting for more than 79% of the  cost of diets across Asia [FAO et al., 2021]. Asia’s  population is affected by multiple forms of malnutrition -  hunger, hidden hunger (lack of  micronutrients) and  overweight and obesity. Half of the world’s undernourished  people are living in the  Asia and Pacific region (about  351M people): South Asia counts the largest number (257M),  followed by  Southeast Asia (65M) while the numbers in East  Asia are very small [FAO et al., 2021]. These numbers  have  fallen rapidly since the 1990s and the burden of hidden  hunger, measured in DALYs, has surpassed  that of chronic  hunger across Asia. South Asia has the highest burden of  hidden hunger of all regions in  the world [Lenaerts and  Demont, 2021]. For example, 56M children under five years  of age affected by  stunting (one dimension of hidden  hunger) are living in South Asia [FAO et al., 2021].  Because of the rapidly increasing consumption of highly  processed food and consumption of salt,  sugar and  sugar-sweetened drinks, malnutrition has increased in all  Asian countries over the last 20 years.  Overweight and  obesity now affect between 20% and 55% of adult populations  in Asia. This has become  an enormous public health issue.  Diabetes alone is associated with US$ 321 billion of  economic loss in  East Asia and the Pacific in 2015 and is  projected to reach US$ 800 billion by 2030. Comparative  figures in  South Asia are US$ 26 billion, projected to  reach US$ 84 billion by 2030 [Bommer et al., 2018]. Besides  their importance for healthy lives, vegetables are also  important to raise the living  standards and resilience of  smallholder farmers and other actors along the vegetable  value chain.  Vegetables can be grown on small spaces and  profits per hectare are 3-14 times higher in vegetable   production than in rice production [Schreinemachers et al.,  2018]. However, Asia’s agriculture remains  strongly  rice-based (and based on wheat in parts of South Asia).  While rice production is key to national  food security,  most rice farmers have remained poor and food insecure as  productivity growth has been  accompanied by price declines  benefiting consumers rather than producers [Timmer, 2009].  Given that  vegetables can be grown on relatively small  areas of land and are labor intensive, opportunities for  jobs  and income generation are important considerations in  particular in low- and middle-income countries.  The  objective of this chapter is to: (i) describe the diverse  and colourful world of vegetables in  terms of varieties,  production systems and diets in Asia and the drivers of  change; (ii) analyze how to  reduce the vegetable dietary  gap across Asia, enabling healthier lives, with maximum  benefits to people’s  livelihoods and with minimal  environmental footprint; (iii) highlight enablers and  constraints related to  the policy and decision-making  environment; and (iv) reflect on future prospects related  to the role of  vegetables to boost food and nutrition  security in Asia. While the chapter focuses on vegetables,  many of  the issues equally apply to fruit.},
      url = {http://worldveg.tind.io/record/76088},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22001/wvc.76088},
}