“Sustainability and resilience are two of the main elements of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems”, stressed Marcela Villarreal, FAO Director of Partnerships and UN collaborations. 

FAO had a robust presence at the 2021 European Development Days (EDD21), the European Commission-led annual forum dedicated to the most pressing challenges in international development. The programme brought the development community together to share ideas and inspire solutions to achieve a sustainable future. As a strategic partner of the EU, FAO gathered leaders and experts to support the challenges of tackling biodiversity loss, climate change and environmental degradation.

During a 75-minute brainstorming session led by FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit, the development community discussed the great potential of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems in contributing to the transformation towards more sustainable food systems. 

The EU, with its European Green Deal, an action plan to make the EU’s economy sustainable, has a fundamental role to play. It is committed to becoming the first climate neutral continent by 2050. The European Development Days provided a great opportunity for all partners  to come together to devise policy solutions and innovative tools to achieve this transition. 

During the brainstorming session, the development community recognized the great ecosystems services that Indigenous Peoples provide to humanity, as the best guardians of biodiversity and cultural diversity. The participants of the brainstorming session agreed on the importance of learning more, recognizing, and supporting the preservation of their ancestral food systems.

 “Indigenous Peoples’ food systems follow seasonality, they adapt their consumption and production to the surrounding ecosystems and are energy-balanced, reciprocal and circular. These food systems combine hunting, gathering, fishing, pastoralism, cultivation, and mobile and sharing practices that enable them to generate diverse food and resources,” emphasized Anne Brunel, FAO specialist on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems. 

Indigenous Peoples’ food systems developed over millennia using territorial management practices that  enable their habitats to recover and allow ecosystems to replenish themselves and provide fresh, nutritious and diverse foods. 

“Indigenous Peoples’ food systems are the base of Indigenous Peoples restoration techniques. FAO and Indigenous Peoples have developed the Indigenous Peoples’ biocentric restoration approach which is based on their cosmogony and their ability to restore their territories through the well-functioning of  their food systems”, added  Sara Casallas, FAO Forest and Water specialist. 

“However, Indigenous Peoples’ face today unprecedented challenges that place them at high risk of disappearing: climate change, extensive livestock and agriculture, lack of recognition of their collective rights and displacement, among others”, stressed Yon Fernández de Larrinoa, Chief of Indigenous Peoples Food Systems while reporting to the plenary the main outcomes of the brainstorming. 

“We urge the European Union and the development community to work together with Indigenous Peoples to implement intercultural programs that ensure the preservation of the most sustainable and resilient food systems, those who belong to Indigenous Peoples”, added Fernández de Larrinoa.