The stewards of natural resources: how indigenous peoples together with FAO help find solutions to achieve #ZeroHunger

Indigenous peoples are stewards of natural resources and the guardians of 80 percent of global biodiversity and nutritious native foods. They are key partners in finding solutions to climate change and reshaping our food systems.

Indigenous peoples play a major role in the efforts required to achieve the responsible management of resources and sustainable development. They can also be innovators and a driving force in ensuring food security and ending poverty.

Constituting only 5 percent of the world population, despite the small share in the total population their food systems can provide answers to food insecurity and climate change indigenous peoples are nevertheless vital stewards of the environment. Indigenous women are the backbone of indigenous communities and play a crucial role in the preservation of food security. They also have a fundamental collective and community role as guardians of indigenous ancestral knowledge, having been traditionally caring of natural resources and managers of seeds and medicinal plants. In addition, they are often taking the lead in the defense of indigenous lands and territories and advocating for indigenous peoples’ collective rights worldwide.

In 2010, FAO adopted its FAO Policy on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in order to ensure that the Organization will make all due efforts to take into full consideration and promote indigenous issues in relevant work. Established FAO’s the indigenous peoples’ team ensures coordination of FAO’s work on indigenous.

FAO's focus areas of work in this area also target indigenous women and youth. FAO has organized initiatives and campaigns to empower indigenous women and called for an internship programme for indigenous youth.

Cognizant of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in FAO’s Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity across Agricultural Sectors, one of the goals that FAO is addressing is to safeguard the livelihoods of small-scale producers, indigenous peoples and local communities.

Many FAO projects relate to indigenous peoples even if indirectly, in their promotion of biological and cultural diversity as the underpinnings of food and livelihood security as well as quality of life.

Find out more about FAO's work on indigenous peoples on the website.

The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is commemorated on 9 August.