Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous Peoples: key allies for sustainability and food security

Our food systems need urgently transforming towards sustainability and resilience. Indigenous Peoples can provide answers on how to continue feeding the world for the future generations. Centred on sustainability, respect and reciprocity, Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems have sustained countless generations in the past and can continue to do so in the future. FAO recognises the game-changing nature of these systems and engages with Indigenous Peoples for the transformations the world urgently needs.

Who are Indigenous Peoples?

There is no single definition at the international-level that is applicable to all Indigenous Peoples, due to their rich diversity. However, in accordance with international consensus, FAO abides by the following criteria when considering Indigenous Peoples:

Self-identification, as well as recognition by other groups, or by State authorities, as a distinct collectivity;
Priority in time, with respect to occupation and use of a specific territory;
The voluntary perpetuation of cultural distinctiveness, which may include aspects of language, social organization, religion, and spiritual values, modes of production, laws, and institutions;
An experience of subjugation, marginalization, dispossession, exclusion or discrimination, whether or not these conditions persist.

Indigenous Peoples have organized themselves into seven socio-cultural regions: i) Africa; ii) the Arctic; iii) Asia; iv) Central and South America and the Caribbean; v) Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia; vi) North America; and vii) the Pacific.

Key statistics on Indigenous Peoples

There are an estimated 476 million Indigenous persons globally, belonging to more than 5 000 different groups;
Indigenous Peoples represent 6.2 percent of the world’s population;
They live across over 90 countries;
70.5 percent live in the regions of Asia and the Pacific; 16.3 percent live in Africa; 11.5 percent live in Latin America and the Caribbean; 1.6 percent live in North America.
They speak most of the world’s estimated 7 000 languages;
Their territories encompass 28 percent of the surface of the world;
They preserve much of the planet’s remaining biodiversity: their lands intersect approximately 40% of all terrestrial protected areas and ecologically intact landscapes;
Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems have high levels of self-sufficiency.

Disclaimer

Nobody should decide for or take actions that could affect Indigenous Peoples without involving them in the process. Development and project practitioners are welcome to contact FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit (PSUI) to get further guidance on this matter and on how to correctly implement Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems

Diversity lies at the core of Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems. They are found across a wide range of landscapes and ecosystems, ranging from mountains, farmlands, forests, grasslands, deserts, and seas. Over millennia of adaptation in these environments, Indigenous Peoples developed a deep knowledge of the ecosystems where they live and to their seasonal patterns. Food is generated through a combination of techniques such as fisheries, pastoralism, hunting, shifting cultivation, harvesting, and gathering. Many Indigenous Peoples do not identify themselves as farmers. The blend of activities they deploy results in a broad food base with highly heterogeneous sources of food that in many cases include hundreds of species for food and medicinal uses. Diversity is key for their resilience.

Indigenous Peoples take a holistic approach towards food generation and production, the preservation of biodiversity, and the preservation of their cultural heritage. This is why it is imperative to recognize the interdependence of Indigenous Peoples food and knowledge systems: an intricate relationship exists between their sustainable practices, their rich cultural traditions and the innovations that Indigenous Peoples deploy in the face of modern challenges, such as climate change and changing seasonal patterns.

Indigenous Peoples food and knowledge systems have been able to generate abundant and nutritious food for countless generations in a sustainable way. Nowadays, they feed millions of people across the world with balanced and culturally appropriate diets. Their contribution to food security is one of paramount importance. This is why FAO advocates for their recognition, preservation and promotion. They have a game-changing potential for the sustainable transformation of food systems around the world.

FAO Policy on Indigenous and tribal Peoples

2015

Consistent with its mandate to pursue a world free from hunger and malnutrition, the following “FAO Policy on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples” has been...