Indigenous Peoples Bring Their Proposals to Change the Food System and Protect Nature
19 Sep 2024 | English
Representatives of the Slow Food Indigenous Peoples Network protagonist at Terra Madre Salone del Gusto
As per tradition, the Slow Food Indigenous Peoples Network marks its presence at Terra Madre Salone del Gusto. With more than 200 from 50 countries, representatives of family farmers, producers, chefs, academics, activists from the Slow Food Youth Network (SFYN), and students will be the program’s protagonists, bringing their knowledge and challenges on stage. Many of the appointments were designed in collaboration between IFAD and Slow Food. Indeed, the indigenous peoples’ delegation also counts with the presence of indigenous representatives from IFAD’s Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF) who are attending the event to foster networking, exchange and improve knowledge management among indigenous communities, promoting food sovereignty in their systems around the world.
On Thursday, September 26, representatives of the Indigenous Peoples officially meet for their traditional opening with powerful speeches, messages, and rituals. At 6.30 Margarita Alejandrina Antonio Matamoros, an indigenous Miskitu woman from the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and member of the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI) will participate in the conference Nature, the climate crisis, and us: Are we at the point of no return? focusing on the effects of global warming on biodiversity and ecosystems.
On Friday 27 an Indigenous Peoples Food Tasting on Native Maize at the Diversity Corner within the Slow Food Farm Area celebrates indigenous corn from the Americas. Protagonists will be Clayton Brascoupé from the Mohawk / Tewa people, Turtle Island, Lourdes Faustino Prisciliano from the Otomí Hnatho people, Mexico, Velazquez Mendez from the Maya Tsotsil people, Mexico.
On Friday 27 at 4 pm Mardênia Feitosa from Tabajara Indigenous People of Rajado Village, Emanoela Feitosa from Tabajara Indigenous People of Sítio São Manoel and Mateus Tremembé from Tremembé Indigenous People of Barra do Mundaú from Brazil animate the debate Safeguarding Territories: Valuing Biodiversity, Food Culture, and Popular Communication for Rural Autonomy in Ceará, Brazil at the Slow Food Farm Knowledge Area.
On Friday 27 at 6 pm Casianes Olilo, Research Scientist from Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), IPAF/IFAD Partner from Turkana People, Kenya,, brings her view on the conference Co-management of aquatic resources at the Slow Food Farm Knowledge Area.
Ancient Ambrosia: A taste of Indigenous honey from Africa is the title of the tasting happening on the Slow Food Farms Diversity Corner on Saturday 28 at 11 am. Manvester Ackson Khoza from Malawi, Clare Ronoh from Kenya, and Blair Byamungu Kabonge from The Democratic Republic of the Congo make visitors discover the different shapes of honey.
On Saturday 28 at 11 am Dali Nolasco Cruz, an Indigenous Nahua woman from Tlaola, Mexico, and Slow Food Board Member, participated in the conference Nature is a Teacher at the Johanna Stutchbury Arena. “We have to listen to Nature if we really want to reconnect with her. That is the main message Slow Food Indigenous Peoples bring to Terra Madre, showing their ancestral traditions to protect ecosystems and their incredible food biodiversity”, she says.
Wisdom Abiro is a young Indigenous chef from Bolgatanga in far northern Ghana. He currently lives in Accra, at the opposite end of the country, and is the head chef of the Ghana Food Movement, a network of cooks and farmers, scientists, nutritionists, entrepreneurs, and more, all on a mission to illuminate the potential of Ghanaian food. He leads the Taste Workshop Zoogala: The Indigenous Salad of the Ghana Food Movement! on Saturday 28 at 1 pm.
Antonella Cordone, Senior Technical Specialist on Nutrition and Social Inclusion at IFAD brings the International Organization’s perspective at the debate Our Food is Our Health: Biodiversity Feeds the Planet at Your Next Arena on Saturday 28 at 3 pm.
Despite being the ones most affected by these convergent crises, it is women and young people who are on the front lines of global movements in support of human rights, people-centered climate solutions, food sovereignty, and the eradication of poverty and discrimination. It is essential to create an environment conducive to the success of their efforts. In the conference, Indigenous Women and Youth on the Front Line, Reshaping the Future, jointly organized by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and its Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF) on Saturday 28 at 3 pm at the Sergio Staino Arena, Indigenous women and youth tell us about the projects they are putting in place to tackle a host of complex challenges. These projects, which build on communities’ cultural and culinary identity and knowledge, are the result of a training program on agroecology and Indigenous food systems supported by IFAD, IPAF, the Tamalpais Trust, and Table4Two. Speakers include Ilaria Firmian, Senior Technical Specialist – Indigenous Peoples at IFAD; Jacqueline Macharia, African Regional Coordinator of the
Ruvicela Toribio Zacarias, Ayuuk people in Mexico and IPAF grantee; Dalí Nolasco Cruz, Nahua people in Mexico and Member of Slow Food Board of Directors; Dewi Yunita Widiarti, Indonesia; Sharif Mohamed Hassan, Merka people, Somalia.
Mexican Chef Claudia Albertina Ruiz Sántiz is the protagonist of the conference Corn Cultivation, Corn Culture: The Slow Mays Network on Sunday 29 at 11 am at the Sergio Staino Arena.
On Sunday 29 at 11 am at the Stuchbury Arena Eleanor Paliking Dictaan-Bang-oa, Tebtebba Foundation (International Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Political Research and Education), Philippines participates in the conference The Living City: Nature in Urban Ecosystems
Raising Animals on Slow Food Farms: Agroecological Practices in the Field, on Sunday 29 at 12.30 in the Slow Food Farm Knowledge Area, is a debate to explore the implementation of agroecological practices in animal husbandry. Participants include Anara Momunova, Head of the Institute for Sustainable Development Strategy Public Fund (ISDS) in Kyrgyzstan and Maria Daniela Tun Caamal, Indigenous Maya person from Yucatán, Mexico, and part of the Yucatán Hairless Pig Slow Food Presidium.
On Sunday 29 at 12.30 Yamna Agaliou, a member of the Wakkad Tigri Mussels Slow Food Presidium in Morocco, participated in the conference What happens beneath the surface? at the Staino Arena, discussing how our seas, lakes, and rivers are under threat from intensive fishing and aquaculture, not to mention pollution from a wide range of human activities.
Jupta Lilian Itoewaki, indigenous Wayana activist and the founding president and CEO of the Mulokot Foundation in Suriname, is among the protagonists of the conference Without Biodiversity, There is No Life and No Future, on Sunday 29 at 3 pm at the Johanna Stutchbury Arena.
Many of the most biodiverse regions of the planet are in the homelands and traditional territories of Indigenous peoples and local, small-scale communities. Nonetheless, policymakers continue to ignore the rights, ancestral knowledge, and voices of Indigenous peoples when making decisions about how to deal with the climate crisis, even though these decisions have direct impacts on Indigenous communities’ lands and resources. In the conference Human rights, food sovereignty, and climate change: Listening to Indigenous peoples on Sunday 29 at 3.30 at the Sergio Staino Arena, Wara Ruiz, Bolivia, Nicolas Mukumo Mushumbi, RDC, Amina Zioul, Morocco, Clare Ronoh, Kenya and Dewi Yunita Widiarti, Indonesia bring their experiences and proposals.
The Role of Indigenous Youth in Coffee Cultivation: Experiences from the Philippines, Thailand, and Mexico, on Sunday 29 at 4.30 pm at the Slow Food Coffee Coalition Area, puts young indigenous coffee farmers from the Philippines, Thailand, and Mexico on stage to talk about their role and the challenges and new possibilities that coffee cultivation poses in their communities. Protagonists are Lee Ayu from Thailand; Daniel Maches and April Lie from The Philippines, Geovanny Mejia from Mexico, Karla Pita Vidal, IFAD.
“Terra Madre is also a unique opportunity for the Indigenous Peoples Network to participate in global and regional meetings, to discuss concrete actions and ways forward to protect our biodiversity and drive the change of the food systems together with our partners”, concludes Dali Nolasco Cruz.
On Monday at 4 pm at the Stutchbury Arena, Indigenous People officially close the event with the debate We are Nature: Indigenous Peoples and Terra Madre, bringing on stage their conclusions, proposals for the future, their traditions, and dances.
The Slow Food Indigenous Peoples’ Network safeguards the rights and traditions of Indigenous peoples in recognition of their role as guardians of biodiversity. More information here.
The participation of delegates from the Indigenous Peoples Network and the SFIPsN network is made possible through the partnership with IFAD, Tamalpais Trust, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
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