全球粮食安全与营养论坛 (FSN论坛)

Focus area: Enhancing equity and inclusiveness in agriculture and food systems

During its 51st plenary session (23-27 October 2023), the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) adopted its four-year Programme of Work (MYPOW 2024-2027), which includes a request to its High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) to produce a report on “Preserving, strengthening and promoting Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems and traditional practices for sustainable food systems” to be presented at the 54th plenary session of the CFS in October 2026.

The text of the CFS request, as included in the MYPOW 2024-2027, is as follows:

Rationale: Indigenous Peoples’ agricultural and food systems are intimately tied to nature and are capable of providing food and nutritional security whilst restoring ecosystems and maintaining biodiversity. This was recognized by the scientific group of the UN Food Systems Summit, which led to the creation of the Coalition on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems. 

Traditional knowledge clearly contributes to the enhancement of the sustainability of agriculture and food systems. FAO’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) provide a good example of how to support traditional systems and demonstrate the wealth they can provide at social, economic and environmental levels. Since 2002, GIAHS has designated 62 systems in 22 countries as agricultural heritage sites. These represent diverse natural landscapes and agricultural practices that create sustainable livelihoods and food security in rural areas while combining biodiversity, resilient ecosystems, traditions and farmer innovations in a unique way. 

The 2022 HLPE-FSN Note on Critical, Emerging and Enduring Issues for Food Security and Nutrition reports that Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge systems are becoming more widely appreciated as methodologically, substantively and contextually strong and they address current contemporary agricultural and food system challenges through insights on socioecological mechanisms and interactions within food generation environments. Additionally, there is great value in acknowledging and striving to foster the connection between modern, scientific practices and traditional knowledge systems. 

Despite their centrality, Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems, and traditional knowledge and practices are undervalued and under unprecedented risk of disappearance. One of the main challenges is that Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems, and traditional knowledge and practices are either misunderstood or unknown, which often result in incomplete or inadequate policy tools. To this end, it is critical to establish a political willingness and leadership to increase Indigenous People's participation in the policy making processes. 

This thematic workstream will benefit from the comparative advantage of the CFS to offer an inclusive and intergovernmental platform for global coordination and policy convergence, which will bring together policy makers, scientific international communities, UN Agencies and Indigenous Peoples. 

Objectives and expected outcomes: The objective of the workstream is to create a set of focused, action-oriented policy recommendations on “Preserving, strengthening and promoting Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems and traditional practices for sustainable food systems to achieve FSN” as a key means of achieving the CFS vision, SDG2, and an array of other SDGs, including SDGs 1, 10, 12, 13 and 15. The workstream will benefit from the findings and recommendations of an HLPE-FSN report on the topic.

Overview

This scoping paper draft addresses Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems’ solutions to enhance food security and nutrition (FSN) and contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The scope covers preserving, strengthening and promoting these systems and practices in a rights-based policy framework to develop and present a set of focused, action-oriented policy recommendations. 

Indigenous Peoples have deep and enduring connections, along with inherent and granted roles and rights, related to food systems, knowledge systems and traditional practices. Unique and sophisticated food systems-related knowledge is possessed by Indigenous Peoples, much of which is undocumented and therefore un- or under-utilized. Even when it is documented, indigenous knowledge is often overlooked and rarely recognized as having scientific value, resulting in its exclusion from published literature.

The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) has been analyzing issues related to Indigenous Peoples and indigenous knowledge in all its reports, and with increasing frequency in recent years. Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition (2017) makes ten recommendations specific to Indigenous Peoples. Integration of transdisciplinary science and indigenous knowledge in participatory innovation processes that transform food system is recommended in the 2019 HLPE-FSN Report, Agroecological and other innovative approaches for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition. In the 2022 HLPE-FSN Note on Critical, Emerging and Enduring Issues for Food Security and Nutrition, the need to build meaningful interfaces for diverse knowledge and practices is emphasized. It states that Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge systems are methodologically, substantively and contextually strong, and can contribute to evidence-based agricultural and food system policies and programmes, and deliver solutions, across important dimensions of FSN.

Much has been documented on the consequences for Indigenous Peoples when separated from their traditional food systems. Those consequences include food insecurity, malnutrition[1], loss of food biodiversity, and opportunity-loss for transforming food systems to be more resilient and sustainable (Kuhnlein et al., 2009, 2013). The 2023 HLPE-FSN report on Reducing inequalities for food security and nutrition, recommends that policy and legislation should be informed by indigenous knowledge and related data, to broaden the spectrum of evidence for FSN policy and action, and address the systemic inequalities disproportionately affecting Indigenous Peoples.

Reviewing, consolidating, and presenting FSN recommendations from relevant sectors and disciplines will bring much needed attention to policy imperatives for achieving the CFS vision and the SDGs; and for advancing progress on realizing the right to food and the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Consultations on this scope and on the development of the full report will be held with a comprehensive range of rights-holders and stakeholders. Beneficiaries of the report will be Indigenous Peoples and the wider global community, through the CFS. 

Guiding principles

While drafting the report, HLPE-FSN experts will adhere to the following guiding principles, in addition to the established HLPE-FSN working procedures, to ensure legitimacy among stakeholders and maintain a high degree of scientific quality:

1. The rights-based policy framework includes the rights of Indigenous Peoples, the right to food, and the rights of nature, along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
2. Consistent with the wording of the CFS request, and in respect of the position of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and that of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, the focus on ‘food and knowledge systems’ will be Indigenous Peoples exclusively (i.e., it will not include terms such as ‘local communities’)[2]. 
3. The report will be focused on Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems, as elaborated in the CFS MYPOW. 
4. The report will also address traditional knowledge and practices covering those from cultures and communities with heritages and legacies of place (e.g., local communities), and those designated as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)). 
5. A review of relevant policy recommendations from a range of scientific and intergovernmental processes will be conducted. 
6. Relevant text and recommendations from previous HLPE-FSN reports will be reviewed, updated, and corrected as appropriate.
7. Current disparate, conflicting, contradictory, and controversial issues will be addressed, along with ramifications, repercussions and unintended consequences for Indigenous Peoples from unrelated, and/or well-meaning policies and processes.
8. Recommendations will be directed to CFS, UN agencies, private sector, civil society organizations, national and local governments, academia and research sector, and Indigenous Peoples’ mechanisms and governing bodies as rights’ holders. 
9. All consultations, content of the report, and especially all recommendations, will respect Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), principles of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS, 2011), and sovereignty issues around food and information. 

Key questions to guide the e-consultation on the scope of the report:

The results of this consultation will be used by the HLPE-FSN to elaborate the report, which will then be made public in its V0 draft for e-consultation, and later submitted to peer review, before finalization and approval by the HLPE-FSN drafting team and the Steering Committee.

We thank in advance all the contributors for reading, commenting and providing inputs on the scope of this HLPE-FSN report. The comments are welcome in English, French and Spanish languages.

This e-consultation is open until 13 December 2024.

The HLPE-FSN looks forward to a rich consultation!

Co-facilitators:

Paola Termine, HLPE-FSN Coordinator ad interim, HLPE-FSN Secretariat

Silvia Meiattini, Communications and outreach specialist, HLPE-FSN Secretariat 

Foundational documents and principles

1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. For the first time, it sets out fundamental human rights to be universally protected. Article 25: 1 states: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food… Full text: https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

2. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP): This Declaration, adopted in 2007, provides a global framework for efforts to protect and advance Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including food and knowledge systems. It recognizes that respect for Indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contribute to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment; and that Indigenous Peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures. Coverage includes human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs. Full text: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf

3. Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security (Right to Food): The objective of the Right to Food, adopted by the FAO in 2004, is to provide practical guidance to States to achieve food security and nutritional adequacy for all. It recognizes that foods, diets and eating habits are vital to people’s cultures and traditions. Indigenous Peoples are identified as deserving special consideration in the context of access to resources and assets, land, and genetic resources for food and agriculture. Full text: https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/307a8e6b-c478-49ba-8a29-f97c825d5770/content

4. Voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests in the context of national food security (VGGT): These Guidelines, endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security in 2012, call upon the States to recognize and protect the legitimate tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and to consider adapting their policies and legal and organizational frameworks to Indigenous Peoples’ tenure systems, with the goals of food security, the right to adequate food, environmental protection, and more. Indigenous Peoples are identified as deserving special consideration; other groups are also listed (e.g., local communities). Full text: https://www.fao.org/4/i2801e/i2801e.pdf

5. Rights of Nature (RoN): Rights of Nature is a legal instrument that describes inherent rights of ecosystems and species to have the same protection as people and corporations; that ecosystems and species have legal rights to exist, thrive and regenerate. In at least twelve countries, and several sovereign territories within countries, have enacted laws protecting rights for nature; many more countries are in the process of developing legislation. Indigenous worldviews align with and have accelerated the development of rights of nature law. https://www.garn.org/rights-of-nature/

6. Guidelines on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues (GIPI): The purpose of GIPI is to assist the United Nations system in mainstreaming and integrating Indigenous Peoples’ issues in processes for operational activities and programmes at the country level. Full text: https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/UNDG_guidelines_EN.pdf

7. Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (C-169): This ILO convention, adopted in 1989, recognizes the rights of Indigenous Peoples within the nation-States where they live; their right to land, natural resources, and full participate in decision-making. It defines responsibilities of governments to protect these rights. Full text: https://www.refworld.org/legal/agreements/ilo/1989/en/19728

8. Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: This 2022 COP decision highlights the relationship and roles of Indigenous Peoples and local communities as custodians of biodiversity and as partners in its conservation, restoration and sustainable use. It specifies and reiterates in its targets that traditional knowledge, innovations, worldviews, values and practices of Indigenous and local communities are respected, documented and preserved. Full text: https://www.cbd.int/doc/decisions/cop-15/cop-15-dec-04-en.pdf

9. Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity, also simply known as the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), Convention on Biological Diversity United Nations Environmental Programme, 2011: This protocol is an international agreement on the fair and equitable access to genetic resources and sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. It notes the interrelationship between genetic resources and traditional knowledge, the importance for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components, and for the sustainable livelihoods of these communities. It makes note of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. [Note: this document uses the phrase, “indigenous and local communities,” as do most treaties and guidelines from the CBD.]  Full text: https://www.cbd.int/abs/doc/protocol/nagoya-protocol-en.pdf

10. Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC): FPIC is a specific right, recognized in the UNDRIP and ABS, which allows Indigenous Peoples to provide or withhold/ withdraw consent, at any point, regarding projects impacting their territories; and to engage in negotiations to shape the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of projects. 

11. The White/Wiphala Paper on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems: This paper, published as a contribution to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, addresses Indigenous Peoples foods, food systems, and traditional knowledge, and how they contribute to resilience and sustainability of food systems worldwide. It presents the perspective that Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge is evidence-based; i.e., it has methodological, substantive and contextual strengths equal to or indeed beyond those of many (dominant) scientific study designs. Full text: https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/3462ba89-ea23-4d49-a3bf-e64bdcc83613/content

12. Indigenous Youth Global Declaration on Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems: This paper, delivered and published in 2021, presents perspectives and actionable recommendations on respecting, preserving and revitalizing Indigenous Peoples food and knowledge systems, and traditional diets and practices. Full text: https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/faoweb/2021/Indigenous/EN_Indigenous_Youth_Global_Declaration_on_Sustainable_and_Resilient_Food_Systems.pdf

13. Local Biodiversity Outlooks 2: This 2020 report highlights the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in providing nature-based solutions for conserving, protecting and sustainably using biodiversity through traditional knowledge and practices. They highlight the effective transformations needed for recognizing and respecting diverse ways of knowing and being, revitalizing Indigenous and local food systems, tackling environmental crises, and inclusive decision-making. Full text: https://localbiodiversityoutlooks.net/publications/

Additional references

Azam-Ali, S. et al. (2023). Marginal Areas and Indigenous People Priorities for Research and Action. In: von Braun, J., Afsana, K., Fresco, L.O., Hassan, M.H.A. (eds) Science and Innovations for Food Systems Transformation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15703-5_14

FAO and Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. (2021). Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems: Insights on sustainability and resilience from the front line of climate change. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb5131en

FAO. (2016). Free Prior and Informed Consent: An indigenous peoples’ right and a good practice for local communities: Manual for project practioners. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/8a4bc655-3cf6-44b5-b6bb-ad2aeede5863/content

HLPE. (2017). Nutrition and food systems. A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. https://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/publications/hlpe-12 www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe

HLPE. (2017). Sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition A report by The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. https://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/publications/hlpe-11/en

HLPE. (2019). Agroecological and other innovative approaches/ A report by The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. https://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/publications/hlpe-14

HLPE. (2022). Critical, emerging and enduring issues for food security and nutrition. A report by The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. https://www.fao.org/3/cc1867en/cc1867en.pdf

HLPE. (2023). Reducing inequalities for food security and nutrition. A report by The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. https://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/publications/hlpe-18

IFAD. (2022). Sustainable and resilient Indigenous Peoples’ food systems for improved nutrition No Title. https://www.ifad.org/digital-toolbox/indigenous-peoples-food-systems/features.html

Kuhnlein, H., Erasmus, B., & Spigelski, D. (2009). Indigenous Peoples’ food systems: the many dimensions of culture, diversity and environment for nutrition and health. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and CINE. https://www.fao.org/4/i0370e/i0370e.pdf

Kuhnlein, H., Erasmus, B., Spigelski, D., & Burlingame, B. (2013). Indigenous Peoples’ food systems and well-being: interventions and policies for healthy communities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and CINE. https://www.fao.org/4/i3144e/i3144e.pdf

UN General Assembly. (2015). Right to Food. General Assembly Seventieth Session, A/70/287. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Food/A-70-287.pdf

UNEP. (1992). Convention on biological diversity. https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/8340;jsessionid=EF1F228DCABD0D7B5DC72F68338975A9

UNESCO. (2018). UNESCO policy on engaging with Indigenous Peoples. In United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000262748/PDF/262748eng.pdf.multi

United Nations. (2015). The UN Sustainable Development Goals.

UNPFII. (2022). Report on the Twenty-First Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Pub. L. No. E/2022/43-E/C.19/2022/11, United Nations, Economic and Social Council. https://social.desa.un.org/issues/indigenous-peoples/unpfii/unpfii-twenty-first-session-25-april-6-may-2022

UNPFII. (2023). Report of the 22nd Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (with Oral Amendments), E/2023/43-E/C.19/2023/7. https://social.desa.un.org/issues/indigenous-peoples/unpfii/unpfii-twenty-second-session-17-28-april-2023

World Health Assembly. (2023). The health of Indigenous Peoples. 76th World Health Assembly WHA76.16 Agenda item 16.3. https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2020-043

WB, The Indigenous Peoples' Resilience Framework: https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/4cafc3a906669ba0d34d4a39dc903472-0090012024/indigenous-peoples-resilience-framework-executive-summary