119Abstract
Indigenous Peoples living in their rural homelands
and intact ecosystems retain a vast knowledge of
biodiversity in food resources. Living in historical
continuity over thousands of years implicitly rec-
ognizes the sustainability of their local food sys-
tem. However, recent stresses to cultures and
ecosystems, globalization of industrially produced
foods, and simplification of diets have created
commonalities for Indigenous Peoples for severe
financial poverty, discrimination, disadvantage and
challenges to nutrition and health. This report
summarizes a ten-year programme of research
and health promotion with 12 cultures of Indige-
nous Peoples in different parts of the world. Fol-
lowing methods development for documentation
of local food systems of rural Indigenous Peoples,
research highlighted a vast diversity in food
species and their patterns of use. Dietary meas-
ures were used to evaluate improved use of local
food resources that were emphasized in pro-
grammes and policy developments to sustainably
improve diets and food and nutrition security in
these areas. Effective cross-cutting strategies
were participatory decision-making for research
and intervention activities, focus on locally avail-
able cultural food species, capacity development
and networking, educational activities with youth,
and use of media to strengthen local perceptions of
local food qualities. The interventions are on-
going, and several have been successful in scaling
up their activities to other communities in the re-
gions. Addressing threats to cultural and ecosys-
tem sustainability and improving access to local
traditional food will improve use of biodiverse food
resources by Indigenous Peoples, enhance dietary
quality, and improve sustainable food and nutrition
security.
- Introduction
Indigenous Peoples are recognized by the United
Nations as having historical continuity with ances-
tral territory and society, and as stewards of vast
areas of biodiversity in their rural homelands.
There are more than 370 million Indigenous Peoples
in 90 countries, who speak more than 4 000 lan-
guages (Bartlett et al., 2007; UNPFII, 2009). Sus-
tainability of a local indigenous diet is presumed if a
culture has occupied a territory for a very long time
in harmony with nature, respecting and learning
from the natural world and the bounty it provides to
sustain community life and cultural ways of know-
ing and doing. If a culture survived through history
to the present day, the diet was necessarily nutri-
tionally complete; although recognition is given to
the constant change and evolution experienced in
natural ecosystems.Our programme has been especially significant in
its recognition that Indigenous Peoples in both de-
veloped and developing countries are often the most
at risk populations within nations for issues related
to both undernutrition and overnutrition, because
they often experience the most severe financial
poverty and disparities in health (Gracey and King,
2 009; Reading, 2009). The transition to oversimpli-
fication of diets away from food resource diversity
generated by healthy ecosystems is a global phe-
nomenon that especially affects Indigenous Peoples
dependent on ecosystems that are under stress
(UNPFII, 2009).In this context our research has focused on under-
standing the foods and diets of Indigenous Peoples
in rural territories, and the treasures of knowledge
these hold. Specifically, we focused on 12 long-
evolved cultures in defined ecosystems in different
parts of the world. Our objective has been to inquire
into the food biodiversity, to understand the unique
species and subspecies/varieties/cultivars known
with traditional knowledge and how these continue
to be cultivated, hunted, fished or gathered and then
prepared and appreciated with cultural knowledge
and techniques. The overall goal is to guide the use