This is a very important theme in the context of the current triple crises of climate, biodiversity and human health and nutrition. There is a lot to learn from indigenous knowledges and practices. Unfortunately, much of this is being destroyed rapidly due to many reasons from changes in land use patterns, deforestation, women's time poverty emerging from male migration to cities, and also the stigmatisation of indigenous knowledges in 'modern' education systems. My comments are particularly in the context of South Asia and India.
I have been working with local partners to improve the nutritional status and health outcomes of the indigenous populations in Eastern India (Santal Parganas in Bihar-Jharkhand). We started working with local, indigenous youth to document resources and recipes, valuing their knowledge, in order to reduce a sense of shame and increase a sense of pride and ownership. Youth here need to be the agents of change. A range of digital tools including the mobile 'Interactive voice response system' and film-making were used. Following this document, one of the key strategies was a detailed nutritional analysis of locally available, affordable, and accessible food. The project produced a recipe book, putting together the recommended combination of local recipes with nutritive values, to address poor micro and macro-nutrient intakes. The recipe book also aimed to preserve traditional indigenous food, knowledge and information in a creative way. This is now being shared with the local communities. Local NGOs and Universities have been involved to support this process.
There are however challenges. First, given high levels of poverty and deforestation and reduced dependence on forests and biodiversity, as well as the exposure of agriculture to climatic variability, men have started migrating to cities to earn a living. Women left behind to manage both the farms and the homes, have little time for cooking traditional recipes. Further, with marketisation, cheap convenience foods are available even in the hinterland. Advertising and the food environment has made children prefer such food to their traditional food.
We have build some connections with policy-makers and are advocating for inclusion of indigenous knowledges and practices, especially food-based approaches in dealing with health issues, but also state-led social protection programmes such as mid-day meals/school feeding.
By exploring the cultural, political, and social issues affecting food security, nutrition, and health of indigenous communities in India, we are hoping to shift knowledge, attitudes, practices at multiple levels, and policy through close work with community stakeholders.
Few published references to this work are below:
- The Santali Recipe book. 2023. (hard and soft copies available)
- Cameras in the Hands of Indigenous Youth: Participation, Films, and Nutrition in India. Rao, N., Narain, N. & Sabir, G., Aug 2022, In: Current Developments in Nutrition. 6, 8, nzac114.
- Armes, S., Bhanjdeo, A., Chakraborty, D., Kaur, H., Ray, S., and N. Rao. (2024). Aligning Santal Tribe Menu Templates with EAT-Lancet Commission's Dietary Guidelines for Sustainable and Healthy Diets: A Comparative Analysis. Nutrients. 16(3), 447.
A few others are currently in the process of finalisation, including a review of communicative practices with indigenous communities to improve FSN.
Please also find link to a practices paper on FAO website about this work: https://foodsystems-goodpractices.review.fao.org/practices/537.
Prof. Nitya Rao