TY  - GEN
AB  - 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.
AD  - World Vegetable Center, P.O. Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan 74199, Taiwan
AD  - World Vegetable Center, P.O. Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan 74199, Taiwan
AD  - World Vegetable Center, P.O. Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan 74199, Taiwan
AD  - World Vegetable Center, P.O. Box 1010, Bangkok 10903, Thailand
AD  - World Vegetable Center, P.O. Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan 74199, Taiwan
AU  - Wopereis, MCS
AU  - van Zonneveld, M
AU  - Kuo, CG
AU  - Larrousse, D
AU  - Schreinemachers, P
CY  - World Scientific Publishing
DA  - 2023
DO  - 10.22001/wvc.76088
DO  - doi
ED  - Teng P.S.
ED  - Book author
ID  - 76088
JF  - Food Security Issues in Asia
KW  - VEGETABLES
KW  - Vegetables
KW  - Asia
KW  - Crop diversity
KW  - Terrestrial herbaceous plants
KW  - Aquatic plants
KW  - Nutritional value
KW  - Micronutrients
KW  - Antioxidants
KW  - Phytochemicals
KW  - Malnutrition
KW  - Chronic diseases
KW  - World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines
KW  - EAT-Lancet Commission
KW  - Global Burden of Disease study
KW  - Dietary risks
KW  - Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)
KW  - Cost of healthy diet
KW  - Malnutrition in Asia
KW  - Hidden hunger
KW  - Overweight and obesity
KW  - Public health issues
KW  - Economic impact of diabetes
KW  - Vegetable value chain
KW  - Smallholder farmers
KW  - Labor-intensive agriculture
KW  - Income generation
KW  - Rice-based agriculture
KW  - Food security
KW  - Vegetable production systems
KW  - Food and nutrition security
KW  - Environmental footprint
KW  - Policy and decision-making
KW  - Food diversity and sustainability
KW  - Vegetables in diets
KW  - Future prospects for vegetables
L1  - https://worldveg.tind.io/record/76088/files/Wopereis%20et%20al_2024_The%20role%20of%20vegetables%20in%20Asia%27s%20food%20and%20nutrition%20security.pdf
L2  - https://worldveg.tind.io/record/76088/files/Wopereis%20et%20al_2024_The%20role%20of%20vegetables%20in%20Asia%27s%20food%20and%20nutrition%20security.pdf
L4  - https://worldveg.tind.io/record/76088/files/Wopereis%20et%20al_2024_The%20role%20of%20vegetables%20in%20Asia%27s%20food%20and%20nutrition%20security.pdf
LA  - eng
LK  - https://worldveg.tind.io/record/76088/files/Wopereis%20et%20al_2024_The%20role%20of%20vegetables%20in%20Asia%27s%20food%20and%20nutrition%20security.pdf
N2  - 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.
PB  - Singapore
PP  - World Scientific Publishing
PY  - 2023
T1  - The role of vegetables in Asia’s food and nutrition security
TI  - The role of vegetables in Asia’s food and nutrition security
UR  - https://worldveg.tind.io/record/76088/files/Wopereis%20et%20al_2024_The%20role%20of%20vegetables%20in%20Asia%27s%20food%20and%20nutrition%20security.pdf
Y1  - 2023
ER  -