In honor of International Women’s Day 2024, Thompson Rivers University (TRU) with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will host the culminating event of the first collaborative Knowledge Makers Journal with an international Indigenous Women’s research cohort. On March 11th and 12th, TRU will host the collaborative Indigenous research conference, “Coyote Brings the Food: Healing the Land, While Healing from the Land” on their campus in Kamloops, British Columbia. The conference will kick off the first two days of TRU IDays 2024, an annual, weeklong celebration of international students. The campuses of Thompson Rivers University are located on...

Dubai - In a moment of profound significance, the COP28 Indigenous Peoples pavilion bore witness to a silence that spoke volumes during the side event "Outcomes of the UN Global Indigenous Youth Forum: Indigenous Youth as Agents of Change for Climate Resilience and Sustainability." Stepping onto the stage, Mai Thin Yumon, co-chair of the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus (GIYC), delivered not just a message, but seven powerful messages encapsulated in the Rome Declaration on Safeguarding Seven Generations in times of Food, Social, and Ecological Crisis. Indigenous Youth shared insights into their food and knowledge systems, cultures, territories, and...

Rome - There are around 20.000 bee species in the world. Amongst these, there are 11 known species of honeybee and countless types of stingless bees. Even though the diversity of honey-producing bees is great, the market is dominated by only one species: Apis mellifera, or Western Honey Bee. Other bee species’ products are overlooked and not recognized by international standards, even if they are of paramount importance for Indigenous Peoples and they play fundamental ecosystemic roles.  Apis mellifera are present in every continent apart from Antarctica. Its dissemination has been driven, at least in part, by the economics of pollination and...

Rome - Indigenous Peoples stand at the frontline of climate change and biodiversity loss. These two phenomena increase the pressure on their food and knowledge systems. Over the course of their history, Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems successfully adapted to a broad range of environmental and climatic conditions: from mountains to oceans, to deserts and jungles. Their understanding of natural cycles and of the interactions within ecosystems, together with the high level of diversity they embed, makes them very resilient. Nevertheless, the pace and the scale of today’s changes in posing some...

Rome - Ecuador joins the Coalition Exactly one year ago, in October 2022, a delegation of Indigenous Youth gathered in the Boassu Food Lab at FAO headquarters in Rome, where they launched the first ever global Coalition on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems, led by Indigenous Peoples. It was to be led by Indigenous Peoples, and bring together the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), Indigenous Peoples’ leaders, UN Agencies and - until Wednesday - nine FAO Members to advance on the respect, preservation and promotion of Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems.