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 the third study under the series on Indigenous peoples’ food systems on June 25, 2021, at Rome.

 The flagship publication titled, “Indigenous Peoples' Food System, Insights of Sustainability and Resilience from the Front line of Climate Change”, identifies hundreds of plant and animal species that Indigenous People around the world depend on and care for to generate food sustainably and conserve biodiversity. This publication provides an overview of the common and unique sustainability elements of Indigenous Peoples' food systems, in terms of natural resource management; access to markets; dietary diversity; governance systems; and links to traditional knowledge and indigenous languages. The publication, while enhancing knowledge on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems, will also raise awareness on the need to protect these vital food systems as a source of livelihood for the 476 million indigenous inhabitants in the world, as also contributing to the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of achieving Zero Hunger.

The ongoing UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025) and the UN Food Systems Summit, both call for the enhancement of sustainable food systems for dietary diversity and  nutritious foods. This would be possible by broadening the existing food base and also conserving biodiversity. Indigenous Peoples' food systems that have survived for hundreds of years, can provide a potential solution to supporting sustainable food systems and enhancing resilience.

The collaborative study looks at eight Indigenous Peoples’ food systems geographically located in the  Amazon, Sahel, Himalayas, Pacific Islands and the Arctic. The study  documents Indigenous Peoples’ unique capacity to conserve biodiversity and foster resilient food security and calls for recognizing land rights, and traditional practices.

The study includes two case studies from India. One is from the shifting cultivation based food system of the Khasi peoples in Meghalaya and the other on the agro-pastoralism and related food systems of the Bhotia and Anwal peoples in Uttarakhand, India.