In contrast to the highly mechanistic food production, distribution, and consumption model applied in the industrialized food system, Indigenous food systems are described in ecological rather than neoclassical economic terms. An Indigenous food is one that has been primarily cultivated, taken care of, harvested, prepared, preserved, shared, or traded within the boundaries of the respective territories based on values of interdependency, respect, reciprocity, and ecological sensibility. "Food sovereignty", is a term coined by members of La Via Campesina (International coalition of Peasant organizations representing 148 organizations from 69 countries) in 1996. Asserts that the people who produce, distribute, and consume food should control the mechanisms and policies of food production and distribution, rather than the corporations and market institutions that have come to dominate the global food system.

1. Promoting food sovereignty of
indigenous people across the globe
- Dishant James
PALB 7025, III PhD
Dept. of Agril. Extension, GKVK,UAS(B)
Image source : FAO

2. It is time that we protect indigenous lands from
corporate interests and people that are out to
exploit them.
- Leonardo Dicaprio, Oscar winner
Image source : Pixabay

3. Indigenous people
• According to UNO, Indigenous people are those, having a
historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial
societies that developed on their territories.
• They form at present non-dominant sectors of society
• Determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future
generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic
identity, in accordance with their own cultural patterns,
social institutions and legal systems.

6. Food sovereignty
• "Food sovereignty", is a term coined by members of La Via Campesina
(International coalition of Peasant organizations representing 148
organizations from 69 countries) in 1996.
• Asserts that the people who produce, distribute, and consume food
should control the mechanisms and policies of food production and
distribution, rather than the corporations and market institutions that
have come to dominate the global food system.
• It also encompasses the right of peoples to healthy and culturally
appropriate food and their right to define their own food and
agriculture systems.

7. Food Security
• Food Security seeks to address
the issue of food and hunger
through the current dominant
food regime without
distinguishing where food
comes from, or the conditions
under which it is produced
and distributed.
Food Sovereignty
• Food sovereignty emphasizes
ecologically appropriate production,
distribution and consumption.
• Focuses on local food systems as ways
to tackle hunger and poverty and
guarantee sustainable food security for
all peoples.
• Promotes local knowledge; the rights of
women, indigenous peoples and
workers.

8. Food System
A food system is the interconnected web of people and processes that
works to facilitate the growth and distribution of food for a specific
community.
Indigenous food system
• In contrast to the highly mechanistic food production, distribution, and
consumption model applied in the industrialized food system, Indigenous food
systems are described in ecological rather than neoclassical economic terms.
• An Indigenous food is one that has been primarily cultivated, taken care of,
harvested, prepared, preserved, shared, or traded within the boundaries of
the respective territories based on values of interdependency, respect,
reciprocity, and ecological sensibility.

9. Why must we work towards
food sovereignty in
Indigenous communities?
• Since the time of colonization,
Indigenous communities have
witnessed a drastic decline in
the Indigenous cultures,
ecosystems, social structures,
knowledge systems and
healthy Indigenous foods.
• Indigenous food sovereignty
provides a restorative
framework for health and
community development.

10. Global organizations that promote food sovereignty of
indigenous people
1. African Biodiversity Network
2. Alliance for food sovereignty in
Africa
3. Andean Alliance for
Sustainable Development
4. Asian farmers’ association for
Sustainable Rural
Development
5. The Cultural Conservancy
6. Dream of Wild Health
7. First Nations Development
Institute
8. Indigenous Food and
Agriculture Initiative
9. The Native Women’s
Association of Canada
10. White Earth Land Recovery
Project

11. 1. African Biodiversity Network
• Raises awareness about African food issues and
promotes biodiversity protection.
• Strives to ignite and nurture a growing network of
change agents working for indigenous people amidst
injustices and destruction arising from the current
industrial development model.
• Enable resilient local communities to govern their
lives and livelihoods rooted in their own social,
cultural and ecological diversity.
• The network promotes Indigenous food through its
grassroots research center, the Centre For Indigenous
Knowledge and Organisational Development.

12. Community Ecological Governance and
Sacred Natural Territories (CEG & SNT)
• These customary governance systems
recognise Sacred Natural Sites and
Territories as places where the laws of Earth
can be read, and from which customs,
spiritual practices and governance systems
are derived to protect the territory as a
whole.
• The failure to respect sacred ecosystems
has a direct impact on the lives and well-
being of communities of present and future
generations of all life.

13. ABN core methodologies
i. Community dialogues to analyse and
strengthen relevant traditional ecological
knowledge and practices, and build community ecological governance.
ii. Creation and use of eco-maps and calendars to facilitate agreement of
land and biodiversity management and control, first within
communities, and then with local and national governments.

14. 2. Alliance for food sovereignty in
Africa
• Influence African seed legislation to protect
farmers’ rights to share, exchange and sell
seeds.
• Empower farmer managed seed systems
(FMSS)
• Mobilize farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, hunter
gatherers, consumers, and other grassroots
voices to speak about agroecology and food
sovereignty
• Raise public awareness on farmers’ seed
sovereignty and the value of farmers’ varieties
for nutrition and health.

15. 3. Andean Alliance for Sustainable
Development
• Located in Cusco, Peru.
• Works at the intersection of academia and indigenous
culture to promote native community development
projects and indigenous agriculture.
• Sustainable agricultural projects sponsored by the
program include:
a school greenhouse project
a family greenhouse system
• The organization also promotes experiential learning
for non-natives to learn about indigenous agriculture
through various intensive courses and research
projects.

17. 4. Asian farmers’ association for
Sustainable Rural Development
PRIORITY AGENDA:
 Secure tenurial rights of small scale women and men family farmers over
natural resources: lands, waters, forests, seeds.
 Produce diverse and nutritious food through sustainable, integrated,
diversified, resilient, organic, agro-ecological family farming systems and
practices in farms and forested landscapes.
 Build and strengthen family farmers’ cooperatives and their
enterprises that will give farmers stronger involvement in value chains and
increase their market power.
 Promote agriculture towards the young and build their interests and
capacities towards sustainable and resilient farming and related enterprises.

18. Key program interventions
I. Policy Advocacy – Makes efforts to influence policy makers so that
they will make laws, policies, programs, and investments that will
benefit and improve the living conditions of small scale family
farmers.
II. Capacity Building – Strengthens capacities of the leaders and
technical staff of farmers’ organizations so that they can efficiently
manage their organizations and cooperatives, as well as their
enterprises and businesses.
III. Knowledge Management – AFA captures, shares and institutionalizes
knowledge and lessons learned by members and partner farmer
organizations in promoting its priority agenda.

19. • Facilitation of effective farmer-to-farmer
exchanges, workshops and learners’
circles
• Awarding of farmer innovators
• Production of learning materials around
the priority agenda
• Promotion of members’ products
• Social media reporting.

20. Participants learnt about :
generating business ideas
creating a business plan
creating a cash flow budget
taking and repaying loans
keeping business records
choosing a marketing strategy
using a balance sheet
managing a business ledger.
By the end of the training, the participants learned how to plan and prepare to
run a successful business.

21. Livestock and Agricultural Marketing Project
(LAMP)
• Linking herders to markets with Value Chain Development (meat, milk
and fiber industries) and Horticulture;
• Raising livestock productivity and quality with sub-components such
as:
• Promoting Animal Health
• Animal Breeding and Genetic Improvement
• Animal Nutrition Improvement

23. 5. The Cultural Conservancy
• Native-led non profit organisation in California
A. TEACHING GARDEN
• Unique opportunities for the cross-tribal, cross-
generational native community to come together and
share foods, Indigenous farming knowledge, stories, and
songs.
• 1.5 acres of land with culturally significant, heirloom
varieties of indigenous food plants, including Seneca
White Corn, Tepary Beans, Taos Blue Hubbard Squash,
Quinoa, Hopi Blue Dye Sunflowers.
• Planning an Ethnobotany Teaching Garden with local,
culturally-significant plants: Manzanita, Soap Root,
Oregon Grape, and Elderberry.

24. B. HANDS-ON EDUCATION
• Host intensive and public workshops with Native chefs, nutritionists,
Indigenous knowledge holders, and organic farmers centered on:
• Native agriculture and nutrition
• Diabetes prevention
• Native food cooking
• Native California plant ethnobotany
• Planting and harvesting.

26. 6. Dream of Wild Health
• Intertribal, independent nonprofit that serves the Minneapolis-Saint Paul
Native American community.
• 10-acre farm in Hugo, Minnesota, providing educational programs that
reconnect the urban Native American community with traditional Native
plants and their culinary, medicinal and spiritual use.
Community programming
 Indigenous food demonstrations
 Seedling sale
 Workshops on sacred medicines
 Seed saving workshops
 Indigenous Food Tasting

27. 7. First Nations Development Institute
• Longmont, Colarado
• Work with community partners in tribal colleges and
community development financial institutions (CDFIs)
• Share information about household asset-building
programs such as:
Individual Development Accounts,
Children’s Savings Accounts, and
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites.
• Conduct research on issues related to predatory
lending in Native communities and work to raise
awareness of this problem.
• First Nations’ programs help move indigenous families
and communities toward financial security.
Image source : smh.com

28. 8. Indigenous Food and Agriculture
Initiative
• Increase student enrollment in the land grant universities in food and
agricultural related disciplines
• Support Indigenous peoples by providing strategic planning and
technical assistance, including research and publications in the following
subject areas:
Tribal Governance Infrastructure to Enhance Business and Economic
Development Opportunities
Financial Markets and Asset Management, including Banking, Risk
Management, and Stewardship of Land and Natural Resources
Health and Nutrition Policy for Tribal Community Wellness
Intellectual Property Rights and Protection of Traditional Knowledge

29. Federal Food programs:
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
• The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
• Food Help for Disaster Relief
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC)
• WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program
• Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
• School Meals Program (which includes the National School Lunch Program,
the School Breakfast Program, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and
others)
• Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
• Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) and
• Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).

30. Indianpreneurship
• Entrepreneurship among Indigenous Americans
• Partnership between the Navajo Nation and
Navajo Technical University
• Focus on training tribal members to launch their
own businesses, including food and agribusiness.
• The program is a series of six-week courses
designed to encourage entrepreneurship and
small-business launches.
• Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)
began the Salmon Marketing Program in 2010 to
promote the sale of value-added products from
Tribal fishermen and harvesters in Idaho, Oregon
and Washington.

31. TRIBAL BISON FARM
• The Stevens Village Ira Council,
Alaska, began its Tribal Bison Farm in
2004 with 15 plains bisons roaming
700 acres of land.
• Today, the farm runs 100 bisons on
2,000 acres.
• The bison serve as a staple meat for
the local community.
• The cover land that provides hay and
grazing areas for the herd has also
helped various types of birds and
moose to flourish again in the area.

32. The Intertribal Agriculture
Council (IAC)
• Through its Technical Assistance Network, IAC provides Native
producers with a direct link to experienced agricultural professionals
who can give advice and assistance in loan or grant application
processes, business and marketing planning, logistics, supply chain,
risk management and daily farm or ranch operations.

33. Northwest Indian College
• The Muckleshoot Tribe has partnered
with Northwest Indian College,
Bellingham, Washingon, to explore and
promote an understanding of Native
foods and increase food security in the
Muckleshoot community.
• The college hosted the third annual
“Our Food Is Our Medicine” gathering.
• Through traditional food feasts, the
project is able to introduce indigenous
foods to younger community members,
offering a cross-generational culture
sharing time.

34. Little Priest Tribal College
• A year-round growing space for organic
produce.
• Will benefit the local community through
free healthy food.
• Sponsors summer farmers markets,
community workshops and “lunch and
learn” sessions during regular semester
hours.
• LPTC issues two-year degrees, Associate of
Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS), in
the following areas: Native American
Studies, Indigenous Science- Enviroment,
Indigenous Science- Health.

35. 9. The Native Women’s Association of
Canada
• In January 2019, the Canadian Government released
its new national food guide.
• Based on feedback from NWAC on how the food
policy should reflect the needs of Indigenous women,
girls and gender diverse people.
Allow First Nation, Métis and Inuit people to hunt
and fish at any time of the year for sustenance.
Increase funding for programs that provide
Indigenous communities with access to
traditional foods, and subsidized and affordable food
for people who experience conditions of poverty.

36. 10. White Earth Land Recovery
Project
• Restore land around the White Earth Indian
Reservation in Minnesota.
• Encourage traditional native land practices,
indigenous agriculture, and community
development.
• The WELR Project promotes food sovereignty,
an indigenous seed library, and indigenous
energy justice issues.
• The Project produces an Indigenous Farm to
School Manual to incorporate native foods into
education on the reservation.

37. • Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
• Acc. to American Medical Association, no. of US children aged 5-17
diagnosed with ADHD climbed 32% over the past decade.
• Dyes and high fructose corn syrup in modern foods are causing ADHD in
children.
• In a study conducted by WELRP, 73% of children placed on a diet free from
chemical additives, dyes and artificial sweeteners showed a reduction in
hyperactivity and an increase in attention.
• Nature Deficit Disorder
• Due to lack of connection with the land that grows food.
• Most kids know about i-pads than about wild plants in their region.
• Diminished use of senses, higher rates of physical and emotional illness.

38. • The National Farm to School network reports that 12,429 schools in
the US have adopted a farm to school model reaching 56,47,400
kids.
• Re-traditionalize by growing, preparing, eating and talking about
heritage foods of Anishinaabe people, like wild rice , fresh berries,
hominy corn, Arikara squash, Potawatomi lima beans.

39. Potawatomi lima beans are low in fat, high in protein.
B vitamins in abundance- thiamine, pantothenic acid,
niacin, B6. Has 21 times the antioxidants found in
market beans.
Arikara squash has 13% of the DRV for fiber, 64% of
the DRV for Vitamin A, half the calories and double
the calcium and magnesium of the market equivalent.
Pink lady heritage corn, when converted into hominy
corn, yields 47% of DRV for fiber, 33% of Thiamine
and has half the calories of market corn.

40. Indigenous Seed library
• Upper Midwest Indigenous Seed Keepers Network
• To encourage the restoration of rare native cultivated
seeds.
• The “Seed of the Week” is a 15 minute long broadcasted
show in Niijii radio, 89.9 FM.
• Focusing on one seed a week and also going into topics
such as seed industry, seed policy, seed cooperatives,
plant breeding, seed saving techniques, plant traits,
cooking.
Seed of the week- Niijii radio

41. The Transformation Process

42. Initiatives and lessons from India

43. • Medak district, AP; 75 villages; 5000 women members
• Reviving traditional diversity (millets)
• Promoting wild foods
• Creating community grain banks
• Empowering dalit women farmers, securing land rights
Deccan Development Society
Photo credit: Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh

44. •Consumer-producer links (Zaheerabad organic food restaurant / shop)
•Linking to Public Distribution System;
•Decentralization (in terms of democratic control) and localization (in terms
of diverse foods relevant to local ecologies and cultures)
Photo credit: Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh

45. Major accomplishments
Has bagged the UN equator prize for 2019.
Crop varieties have increased. Over 60 varieties have been under
active cultivation now as against 25-30 varieties two decades ago.
Extremely marginal lands have become productive. Lands which used
to produce crops worth Rs.250-300 per acre have started producing
crops worth over Rs.4000.
Seeds that can crop about 1000 Ha have been stored in villages
within a span of two years and three cropping seasons.
Safe food and a variety of options are on the women's menu.
Forgotten foods from the past like Korra, Aargulu, Bailodlu are in the
kitchen.

46. Thriving in
drylands
Nadimidoddi Vinodamma
3 acres
45 crop varieties (millets/pulses/vegetables)
Food sufficiency for family (1st priority)
Rs. 200,000 sale in market (with expenditure of Rs. 18,000)
Fully organic, all local seeds

47. • DDS helped start India’s first rural community radio station, Sangham
Radio, in 2008.
• Also- a “Community Media Trust” that is run by the women farmers who
double up as filmmakers.

48. Niravu Organic Village
• On November 1, 2006 (Kerala formation day) the Niravu Residents
Association, Vengeri in Kozhikode, decided to actively take to organic
farming and ensure that every member household had a backyard
vegetable garden for them.
• Niravu had as many as 101 members then.
• When the forum came across a scarcity of good and indigenous
vegetable seeds, its members decided to collect vegetable seeds from
different parts of the State.
• They collected conventional seeds from old farmers’ reserve.
• Requested the girls who migrated to other places by marriage to
collect rare seed varieties from those places.

49. • In the time of protests against BT Brinjal, Niravu participated in the
movement by producing 100,000 conventional brinjal saplings. This
brinjal variety was later certified as Vengeri Brinjal by the authorities.
• In 2010, Vengeri became the first organic village in Kerala.
• Collectively nurtured Kasargod Kullan, an endangered cow species.
• Opened an outlet for Niravu organic products with the help
of NABARD.
 VIDEO (3:00)

50. Recommendations
Preparation of Global Directory of Traditional
Food Systems.
Recognize them as Heritage food systems
(Nationally or as GIAHS - Globally Important
Agricultural Heritage System)
Need for New Policies to conserve indigenous
food systems before we lose them