Global consumption and international trade in deforestation-associated commodities could influence malaria risk

2020/03/09 by Leonardo Suveges Moreira Chaves, Jacob Fry, Arunima Malik +3 · 1 citation
Medicine · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Malaria Research and Control #Mosquito-borne diseases and control #Livestock and Poultry Management

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14954-1

openalex publication_date 2020/03/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

Deforestation can increase the transmission of malaria. Here, we build upon the existing link between malaria risk and deforestation by investigating how the global demand for commodities that increase deforestation can also increase malaria risk. We use a database of trade relationships to link the consumption of deforestation-implicated commodities in developed countries to estimates of country-level malaria risk in developing countries. We estimate that about 20% of the malaria risk in deforestation hotspots is driven by the international trade of deforestation-implicated export commodities, such as timber, wood products, tobacco, cocoa, coffee and cotton. By linking malaria risk to final consumers of commodities, we contribute information to support demand-side policy measures to complement existing malaria control interventions, with co-benefits for reducing deforestation and forest disturbance.

Citations

• High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change
• Revisiting the Commons: Local Lessons, Global Challenges
• Effects of Microclimatic Changes Caused by Land Use and Land Cover on Duration of Gonotrophic Cycles ofAnopheles gambiae(Diptera: Culicidae) in Western Kenya Highlands
• Abundance of impacted forest patches less than 5 km2 is a key driver of the incidence of malaria in Amazonian Brazil

Cited by

• Planetary health [wikipedia]