Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts from all seven sociocultural regions of the world gathered at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome on 12 October for the opening of the fourth annual meeting of the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples' Food and Knowledge Systems.
The meeting is housed in two Sámi nomadic tents, or Lavvus, set up as an Indigenous Peoples' territory at the centre of the FAO compound. It runs through the week of World Food Day and the World Food Forum, and brings together knowledge holders, leaders, experts and researchers to share experience and strengthen the role of Indigenous knowledge in responses to today's global problems.
Opening the ceremony, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu spoke of the shared history that links all people to Indigenous Peoples and described the participants as humble intermediaries passing knowledge from one generation to the next. The proceedings began with a spiritual ceremony and the lighting of the fire with Chief Deskaheh of the Haudenosaunee Nation.
María José Pinto, Vice President of Ecuador, spoke on Indigenous Peoples' knowledge and traditions in her country. Bolivia's Minister for Sustainable Development, Environment and Water, Oscar Mario Justiniano, and Nepal's Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Gita Chaudhary, also took part, with government representatives from Guatemala, Ireland, Panama and South Africa, and Pieternel Boogaard of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Set up in 2018, the Global-Hub has grown into a think-tank of 40 organisations and institutions and five international research networks with more than 250 experts. Its 2021 White/Wiphala Paper has become a reference in policy debates; this year's meeting will launch the White/Te Oranga Paper on Indigenous Peoples and non-inclusive rural transformation.
Each day of the week has a theme: science and innovation, vulnerability and prosperity, biocentric restoration and conservation, and mobility and nutrition. The programme also marks one year of the HOPE Room, a space for Indigenous Peoples in FAO's Food and Agriculture Museum and Network, and five Indigenous chefs will cook dinner each night.
Source: FAONewsRoom
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