Rome - A Committee on Agriculture COAG28 side event highlighted the game-changing nature of indigenous Peoples’ food systems, and drew lessons for transforming agrifood systems towards sustainability and resilience in light of COAG28 and COP27.

Considered some of the oldest and most sustainable on the planet, Indigenous Peoples’ food systems are intimately tied to nature and able to provide food and nutritional security while maintaining biodiversity and supporting climate resilience.  It is therefore not surprising to see that Indigenous Peoples’ food systems are at the crossroads of several global policy discussions, such as the UN Food Systems Summit, UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development (2018-2028), and the COP27 of the UN Framework Convention of Climate Changes (UNFCCC). Mainly based on food generation activities, and often with a strong component of mobile livelihoods, they offer new perspectives to consider food systems and its sustainability, meanwhile that they require specific attention for their preservation. 

Since its official endorsement at COAG27 in 2020, the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems have provided considerable evidence on the sustainability and resilience of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems.

During the UN Food Systems Summit, the White/Wiphala paper on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems, drafted from 60 Indigenous and non-Indigenous contributions, enabled the recognition of the “game-changing nature” of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems by the Scientific group of the Summit. The paper played a fundamental role in the creation of a Coalition on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems, under the leadership of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples (UNPFII), and with the support of seven FAO Members and FAO.

The forthcoming COP27 is identified as a major rendez-vous to provide evidence and influence the policy discussions, which will focus on food systems. In this context, the side-event provided the opportunity to reflect on how the Global-Hub and the Coalition can support this process, by exemplifying the game-changing nature of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems and identify concrete actions to come together.

Indigenous Peoples as key allies

“All the dimensions of sustainability and resilience are really rooted in the territories of Indigenous Peoples.. The whole climate change arena recognizes the importance of Indigenous Peoples, traditional knowledge and practices”, Ould-Dada said.

“FAO considers Indigenous Peoples as key allies on the path towards more sustainable and resilient food systems. Their role as guardians of forest and nature is getting increasingly recognized. As we move towards COP27, we should reinforce our efforts to include Indigenous Peoples and their views in policymaking.  It is therefore critical to respect and strengthen Indigenous Peoples’ collective rights to land, territories, and natural resources”, emphasized Maximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist.

“I am convinced that we can all learn a lot from Indigenous Peoples, as we face the current crises of food security, social exclusion, climate change and ecosystem collapses. I feel honoured that Mexico contributed to the creation of the Coalition on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems during the UN Food Systems Summit, under the lead of Indigenous leaders and together with Canada, the Dominican Republic, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Spain,” H.E. Miguel García Winder, Ambassador of Mexico to UN Agencies in Rome underscored.

Vital Bambanze, Batwa people, Expert of the UN Permanent forum on Indigenous Issues for Africa, emphasized that Indigenous Peoples practicing hunter gathering have several practices ensuring sustainability. “We want nature to survive so nature can protect us,” he emphasized. “Indigenous Peoples are part of the solution. We are custodians of nature and protectors of forests,” he added. He concluded that respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights, giving them a seat at decision tables, and ensuring that financing reaches Indigenous Peoples directly is key. We need innovative solutions to fight the climate crisis.

Nigel Crawhall, UNESCO Chief of Section, Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems, underscored that “Indigenous Peoples food systems are highly adaptive. Transhuman pastoralism, rotational farming, hunting and gathering have adjusted overtime and under rapid changes, being able to use the full range of biodiversity sustainably. There are great opportunities to bring several agendas together and look at sustainable food systems in the context of climate change, biodiversity, and water," he concluded.

Siham Drissi, Programme Management Officer, Terrestrial Ecosystems Unit, Ecosystems Division, UNEP, added that “Indigenous Peoples are already using their traditional knowledge to address and adapt to climate change at the local level. The UN Decade on Ecosystems Restoration co-led by FAO and UNEP aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems in every continent. UNEP is proud to be a member of the Global hub.” She concluded that all actors need to respect and value Indigenous Peoples as essential partners.  

 Technical discussion: Major contributions of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems in ongoing policy discussions  

The technical discussion featured four interventions with concrete examples of lessons that can be learnt from Indigenous Peoples food systems.

Vyacheslav Shadrin, Sakha people, Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, presented how Indigenous Peoples food systems have proved their resilience in the context of climate change in the Arctic.

Nahid Naghizadeh, Senior Research Associate, Center for Sustainable Development and Environment (Cenesta) emphasized the importance for mobility and nomadic people in managing biodiversity and food systems in Iran.

Koko Warner, Manager, Vulnerability subdivision, Adaptation division, UNFCCC underscored the importance of including Indigenous Peoples’ food systems in the COP27 policy discussions and invited Indigenous Peoples to join the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIPP).

 The way forward. From COAG to COP27: The role of the Coalition on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems and the Global-Hub supporting this process

Maarten de Groot, Deputy Permanent Representative Canada, underscored that three things are necessary to strengthen on the way forward. Firstly, he emphasized the importance of the White Wiphala paper for awareness raising. Secondly, further advocacy is necessary to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are involved in decision-making processes. Thirdly, urgent actions need to be taken to include Indigenous Peoples knowledge in climate action and science and innovation policies. “The Coalition and Global-Hub are crucial in bringing us along,” he concluded.

Marcela Villarreal, Director of FAO’s Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division, summarised the key points from the presentations. “COP27 is a great opportunity for Indigenous Peoples to influence climate policy and action,“ she reiterated. Indigenous Knowledge needs to be protected and is key for resilience. For example, “Indigenous Peoples manage wildfires with a huge amount of knowledge for centuries,” she explained. "COP27 is a great opportunity to show the world the game changing nature that Indigenous Peoples’ food systems and lessons that can be learned from them that can improve food systems around the world, and action on climate mitigation and adaptation,” she concluded.

 Conclusions

The event emphasized that Indigenous Peoples’ food systems hold key lessons for sustainability and resilience, and should be understood, promoted and respected.

It underscored that policy makers can include Indigenous Peoples as rights and knowledge holders in at decision tables, and that events like COP27 will provide key spaces for Indigenous Peoples to fully participate in decision processes.

Donors can support the trail-blazing an innovative work with Indigenous Peoples by supporting the Coalition on Indigenous Peoples Food Systems, the Global Hub on Indigenous Peoples food systems, or FAO’s Multidonor trust fund.

Further information:

• Watch the event recording: https://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/5922/icode/?lang=en&q=high
•  Presentation by Dr. Koko Warner, UNFCCC https://bit.ly/UNFCCCpresentation