From the Drawing Board to the Book Launch: North American contributions to Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems Publication
June 25, 2021, Rome - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with the Alliance of Bioversity International and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) released a new publication titled Indigenous Peoples' Food System, Insights on sustainability and resilience from the front line of climate change, launched on 25 June.
As the third book in a series, it represents collaborative work and field research with Indigenous Peoples' organizations and research centers across the world that examined Indigenous Peoples’ food systems in depth. The studies identify hundreds of diverse plant and animal species that Indigenous Peoples around the world depend on and care for to generate food sustainably and enhance biodiversity - and warn of increasing threats to these sophisticated food systems.
"Indigenous Peoples are and have always been dynamic innovators, learning from each other and developing a systemic approach, based on observation," said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.
The Global Reach of Participatory Research with Indigenous Peoples on their food systems
Indigenous Peoples' food systems analyzed in this publication include those belonging to the Baka people in Cameroon, the Inari Sámi people in Finland, the Khasi, Bhotia and Anwal peoples in India, the MelanesiansSI people in the Solomon Islands, the Kel Tamasheq people in Mali, the Tikuna, Cocama and Yagua peoples in Colombia, and the Maya Ch'orti' in Guatemala.
"We must work with them, to learn and co-create knowledge for all of humanity", Qu said.
The field research carried out by the local Indigenous Peoples’ organizations was coordinated by the FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit and a scientific committee including Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Massey University, the Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty (TIP), the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), the Mountain Partnership Secretariat, the Pastoralist Knowledge Hub and FAO technical divisions including Fisheries.
The book launch celebrated the Indigenous leaders, researchers, and partnering agencies who worked together in the research and publication and thanked the eight Indigenous Peoples’ communities for their consent and generosity in sharing their traditional knowledge about their food systems over four years.
Advancing the Understanding and Documentation of Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems
“I am pleased that this book shows how our sustainable food systems, Indigenous knowledge and practices maintained for a million years, can tackle ongoing global challenges, and contribute with significant improvements benefiting humankind,” stated Anne Nuorgam, of the Sámi people and Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
H.E. Alexandra Bugailiskis, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the FAO for Canada and Chair of the Informal Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples in Rome, echoed the FAO Director-General QU Dongyu message that “this publication could not be more timely as we approach the UN Food Systems Summit” affirming, “It is going to make an important contribution to our fuller understanding and sustainability of traditional food systems, and provide us a scientific and evidence-based framework that will lend itself to perlative research.”
As Chair of the Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples in Rome, Ambassador Bugailiskis has been a strong advocate of opportunities for Indigenous Peoples to express their extensive knowledge and shape food systems policy. To this end, she acknowledged Canadian Professor Harriet V. Kuhnlein for her significant contributions and leadership in seminal research on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems and nutrition in Canada and globally.
Indigenous Leadership & Canadian Roots: From Research Methodology to the Publication
Professor Harriet V. Kuhnlein, Professor Emerita of Human Nutrition at McGill University (Canada) and Founding Director, Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment (CINE), with Professor Barbara A. Burlingame, Professor of Public Health Nutrition and Food Systems, Massey University (New Zealand), Former Chief in the FAO Nutrition Division, started this work with a governing board of Indigenous leaders and FAO more than 20 years ago.
Together they developed a research methodology and protocol to document the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems beginning in Northern Canada and extending internationally. The research process that followed served as the impetus for this series. Professor Kuhnlein described how their research continued at the request of the Indigenous Peoples’ communities so the “documentation could be used to benefit the people.”
The most recent publication is a continuation of two books co-published by FAO and CINE, Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems: The Many Dimensions of Culture, Diversity and Environment for Nutrition and Health (2009) and Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems & Well-being: Interventions & Policies for Healthy Communities (2013).
In speaking on the new publication, Professor Burlingame impressed, “The data-backed stories as presented in this book not only inform our thinking and our research priorities, they provide the evidence base for policies, they give agency to Indigenous Peoples, and the recommendations presented benefit both human and planetary health.”
From Research to Policy & Reform: The Importance of Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems Globally
“It is indeed a day to celebrate the launch of this book. It brings together four years of research on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems” and “shows clearly how Indigenous Peoples’ food systems have adapted over generations to work in harmony with their ecosystems, producing food while protecting biodiversity. Implementing these concepts on a global scale will be vital to achieving zero hunger” said FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol, extending her personal thanks to all the Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, and FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit who contributed to the publication.
To this end, Bechdol also emphasized the important role of the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems, endorsed by countries during the Committee on Agriculture September 2020, as a knowledge platform that brings together Indigenous Peoples, research centers, and academia to contribute to the conversation on sustainable food systems globally.
As an example, she noted the major contribution of the Global-Hub to the UN Food Systems Summit in the form of the technical reference document “White/Wiphala Paper on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems.”
“There is more research needed in the way in which Indigenous Peoples’ food systems knowledge and practice enhance biodiversity,” stated Yon Fernández-de-Larrinoa, Chief of the FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit and Co-Coordinator of the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems.
“By doing this work” Fernández-de-Larrinoa explained, “we have realized how scientists and policymakers, how little we know about Indigenous Peoples’ food systems. We need to listen, we need to learn, we need to respect, we need to design policies and programs with Indigenous Peoples. We are missing a tremendous opportunity to learn from them.”
Amplified Calls for Intercultural Collaboration
The authors of the book emphasize the urgent need for Governments and the international community to establish and enforce intercultural policies that support the efforts of Indigenous Peoples to protect their food systems.
“We need more effective and creative interactions between Indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge systems. This is the only way we will achieve the agri-food system transformation that the world needs,” said Máximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist.
Researchers, policymakers, global leaders, chefs, youth, and elders across the world are expressing the critical importance of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems, knowledge, and leadership. “Indigenous Peoples’ food systems teach us all that this is possible, to connect food to health and to all biodiversity preservation” emphasized Chef José Andres, Founder of World Central Kitchen. “That’s what the rest of humanity - we need to learn. To respect natural cycles, to follow seasonality, to share food before wasting it, to eat the food that grows in our surrounding ecosystems. That’s what a healthy diet looks like - like a healthy ecosystem. Like a life in harmony with nature.”
The book launch amplifies the global call and commitment to respectfully learn from Indigenous Peoples and strengthen collaborations to ensure Indigenous Peoples are directly involved in research, programs, and policy making at all levels.
Additional References:
New Publication: Indigenous Peoples' Food System, Insights of sustainability and resilience from the front line of climate change
2009 Publication: Indigenous Peoples’ food systems: the many dimensions of culture, diversity and environment for nutrition and health.