- In Brazil, there are not only indigenous peoples, but also “Traditional Communities peoples”. The universe of native and diasporic peoples is not homogeneous or unique: there are 29 of these groups recognized by the Brazilian Federal Government, as we could see in this document that links them with Food Security: (https://mds.gov.br/webarquivos/MDS/2_Acoes_e_Programas/Acesso_a_Aliment…). There are many nations that have been subjected to processes of subordination, erasure or extermination of their cultures and knowledge, due to colonial processes that have imposed many social hierarchies of values;
- The objectives that include mainstreaming Indigenous Peoples food and knowledge systems, and lessons learned from them, should be for the benefit of all, not only solely for the benefit of Indigenous Peoples as rights holders, once their knowledge are sustainable and healthy solutions and ways of life;
- The challenges related to Free, Prior and Informed Consent and Access and Benefit Sharing should be ratified by national governments in order to widely promote and/or mainstream Indigenous Peoples food and knowledge systems. In Brazil, Indigenous and Traditional Communities peoples’ participation have increased their participation in the policy making processes in order to inform properly what issues are the stake, so they can decide properly;
- There are other tools in order to ensure the inclusion of marginalized groups, sustainability, and protection against commercialization risks for Indigenous Peoples' food and knowledge systems. Besides the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), there is ILO Convention 169, called "Previous Consultation". In Brazil it is known as "Previous Consultation Community Protocol". National governments should ratify these guiding principles. It guarantees Indigenous and Traditional Communities peoples the right to choose, participate in and evaluate trade issues, projects, undertakings, legislative proposals, academic research and any interventions that directly or indirectly affect their way of life. This is because it is the people, in their territories, who know the local realities, the problems and difficulties they face and also their potential. Therefore, for any action in the territories, it is the people who must be consulted first;
- In order to be document and referenced oral knowledge and traditions in the development of the report, it is important to document their inputs through different Participatory Inventory tools. The Brazilian National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute created an instrument that builds, in a participatory way, especially those who are the Indigenous and Traditional Communities peoples, a methodology to register in a multistakeholder environment, different tangible and untangible heritage features, through different medias: images, texts, sounds, maps, etc.;
- The dimensions linked to Indigenous Peoples’ agency, e.g., in governance issues, should address security of tenure, sociobiodiversities (food culture, intersectionality -gender, age, race/ethny, religious) connected to environmental protection, labour conditions, land threats (violence against leaderships, against women and foreigners, economic pressures, etc.), issues that influence food production and Food Security and Nutrition;
- There are important/relevant policy papers and instruments missing from the foundational documents list. South Global countries and their authors should have been addressed, once these are the countries that there are important representatives of Indigenous and Traditional Communities peoples:
- Brazil:
- Felipim, A. P.; Queda, O. O sistema agrícola guarani mbyá e seuscultivares de milho: um estudo de caso. INCI v.30 n.3 Caracas mar. 2005;
- Silva Araujo, L.; Bidaseca, K. (org.) Agroecología en los sistemas andinos. 1a ed. Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: CLACSO, Minneapolis, Fundación McKnigth, 2021.
- Viveiros de Castro, E. A Inconstância da Alma Selvagem. Sao Paulo: Csac Naify, 2002.
- Eidt, J.S.; Udry, C. Sistemas Agrícolas Tradicionais no Brasil. Brasília, DF: Embrapa, 2019.
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Formação em soberania e Segurança alimentar e nutricional para agentes de pastoral negros. Silva, D.O. (org.). Brasília, DF: Fiocruz, 2024.
- Rede Brasileira de Pesquisa em Soberania e Segurança Alimentar – PENSSAN. Insegurança alimentar e desigualdades de raça/cor da pele e gênero. II VIGISAN : inquérito nacional sobre insegurança alimentar no contexto da pandemia da Covid-19 no Brasil. São Paulo : Fundação Friedrich Ebert, 2023.
- Ministério do Desenvolvimento Social (MDS). Diretrizes para o Atendimento de Povos Indígenas e povos e comunidades tradicionais em Programas de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional. 1ª ed. Brasília, DF: MDS: 2024.
- Best practices, ethical standards, and strategies for addressing climate change should be highlighted in the report: the institutions responsible for public policies on Food and Nutrition Security should carry out ongoing training for technicians and managers on Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities. Carry out studies by public and private institutions on socio-territorial diagnoses. Promote a symmetrical dialogue with the Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities, including language, open space to regular and legitimized representatives in bargaining channels, promote campaigns that value socio-cultural differences on food culture and ancestral knowledge, monitore public programme;
- One example of a best practice or strategy that promotes cross-cultural understanding and could be highlighted in the report is the Project Integrated Study on Urban Agriculture as Heritage, financed by Volkswagen Foundation that is a Global North-South Research Cooperation between Germany, Brazil, Cuba, Japan and Indonesia: www.insuah.info;
- The previous legal documents such as Prior and Informed Consent could include more Global North and South representatives in authorship and conceptual references in light of this evolution of thinking about Indigenous People’s knowledge.
Ms. Luciana Itikawa