After three years of work, eight ITM international events in five countries, activities on ten Indigenous-led Slow Food Presidia in Latin America and Africa, and a global pandemic, the IFAD and Slow Food project “Empowering Indigenous Youth and their Communities to Defend and Promote their Food Heritage” is coming to its closure, but the results are countless.
Now, let’s focus only on the work done to protect indigenous food heritage and biodiversity, enhancing the inclusion of the youth. The following Presidia were self-sustainable and many could further enlarge the scope of their activities and involve more producers and their families, including youth and women. Let’s go discover these IFAD-Slow Food Presidia!
- Argentina – Gran Chaco Wild Fruits
- Argentina – Wichí Wild Honey
- Brazil – Sateré-Mawé Native Waraná
- Brazil – Kirirí Manioc Flour
- Colombia – Providencia Black Crab
- Ecuador – Esmeraldas Blue Crab
- Mexico – Oaxaca Mixteca Agave
- Kenya – Red Maasai Sheep
- Kenya – Ogiek Honey
The activities over the three years had been numerous and a part of the final official numbers have resulted in many other collateral achievements. For example, the establishment of 125 indigenous Slow Food Communities, which showed the interest of participants in keeping the network alive involving their communities. Furthermore, considering the success of the Presidia, two of them have been selected to pilot an indigenous-led Participatory Guarantee System (PGS), designed to improve and increase the commercialization of the products. This PGS pilot is giving excellent results in the Ogiek Honey Presidium (Kenya) and in the Oaxaca Mixteca Agave Presidium (Mexico).