The Indigenous World 2025: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Indigenous Peoples

Written on 25 April 2025. Posted in Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Indigenous Peoples

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a UN Specialized Agency leading global efforts to defeat hunger and malnutrition through normative work and technical programmes. Founded in 1945, FAO aims for food security, ensuring everyone has access to high-quality food for a healthy life. With over 194 members and offices in 130+ countries, FAO recognizes Indigenous Peoples as key partners, not just beneficiaries, in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

FAO’s engagement with Indigenous Peoples has evolved over time. In 2004, it adopted the Right to Food Guidelines, emphasizing Indigenous Peoples’ land and resource rights.

The 2010 FAO Policy on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, developed with Indigenous leaders, placed Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) at the core of FAO’s work. Since then, FAO has expanded its focus on Indigenous food systems, governance, and climate resilience.

Key Milestones

• 2013 & 2021: Publications on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems and sustainability.
• 2014: Establishment of the FAO Indigenous Peoples’ Unit (PSUI) and a joint work plan prioritizing youth, women, food systems, governance, and climate action.
• 2020: Launch of the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems, endorsed by FAO Members.
• 2021: The White/Wiphala Paper on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems became a key reference for the UN Food Systems Summit, where Indigenous food systems were recognized as “game-changers” for sustainability.
• 2023: FAO and the Global-Hub, together with the Indigenous Peoples' Food systems Coalition, presented a proposal to the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) to integrate Indigenous Peoples' food and knowledge systems into the CFS Multi-Year Programme of Work 2024-2027.
• 2027: For the first time in the history of CFS and FAO, the CFS Programme of Work includes a dedicated agenda item on Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems. This process presents an historic opportunity, as the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) begins recruiting a drafting committee of experts to develop a technical report on Indigenous Peoples. The report will be presented to CFS in 2026 to launch formal discussions.

By 2025, FAO’s Global-Hub will include 37 organizations and contribute to Indigenous food system research in the Pacific and Amazon regions. The UN Global Indigenous Youth Forum (UNGIYF) in late 2025 will be a key moment for launching new reports and initiatives.

FAO continues to champion Indigenous Peoples' food and knowledge systems as models of sustainability, biodiversity protection, and climate resilience – essential for transforming global food systems and influencing policy discussions. 

This article is part of the 39^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here

Indigenous Youth leading the discussions on Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems and climate change

In 2025, the FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit (FAO PSUI) will enhance its collaboration with Indigenous Youth, building on the momentum from the 2023 2^nd session of the UN Global Indigenous Youth Forum (UNGIYF) and preparing the upcoming 3^rd session of the UNGIYF that will take place in the last quarter of 2025.

In several global fora throughout the year, FAO facilitated spaces for Indigenous Youth to share the outcomes from the 2^nd session of the UNGIYF and make policy recommendations based on the 2023 Indigenous Youth Rome Declaration on Safeguarding Seven Generations in times of Food, Social, and Ecological Crisis.^[1]

In April 2024, FAO participated in the 23^rd Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) focused on “Enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination in the context of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: emphasizing the voices of Indigenous youth”. Besides hosting two side events on Indigenous Youth, FAO organized a dedicated session with the UNPFII experts and UN organizations to share the outcomes of the 2023 2^nd session of the UNGIYF. FAO Indigenous Peoples’ Unit specifically asked at this special session to have the Rome Declaration loaded into the UNPFII/UNDESA web page in order to enhance coordination between the UNPFII, UN and Indigenous Youth and advance youth discussions in global fora.

In October, the FAO Indigenous Peoples’ Unit worked with the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus (GIYC) to engage their delegation in the 2024 meeting of the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems. At this annual meeting of the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems, the Indigenous Youth delegation contributed to the discussions on Indigenous Peoples' Biocentric restoration and the connections between biodiversity and culinary traditions of Indigenous Peoples. One of the key topics of discussion with the Indigenous Youth delegation and the Global-Hub was the impacts of ultra-processed foods on Indigenous Peoples’ wellness. This topic emerged as a key priority with a call to action for further research to better understand the impacts from the 2023 UNGIYF.

To follow through on this request, a drafting committee of the Global-Hub and task force of Indigenous Youth are delving into a research process and collective paper on the impacts of ultra-processed foods on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples and their food and knowledge systems. This topic and report will be a priority discussion during the UNGIYF in 2025.

“Ultra-processed food is negatively impacting the dietary habits of tribal and Indigenous Peoples. It has led to commercialization of crops, pressure on and exploitation of land, and has also caused health problems. Awareness campaigns to sensitize people should be raised,” stated Seemran Rashmi Bansingh, an Indigenous Youth leader from India.

The Global-Hub annual meeting took place in FAO headquarters in Rome, during World Food Week, thereby coinciding with the World Food Forum (WFF), the Science and Innovation Forum, the Investment Forum and the High-Level Rome Water Dialogue on WASAG – The Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture. The Indigenous Youth delegation spoke at more than 22 events, building on their previous work of launching the global campaign, “My Food Vision...”^[2] and the outcomes of the biennial UN Global Indigenous Youth Forum and providing feedback on their regional priorities for the 2025-2026 Global Youth Action Plan.

“It is important for non-Indigenous people to make efforts in the building of just and right relations with Indigenous Peoples. This will also make space for Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge, creativity and innovation,” explained Daryl Kootenay, North America regional focal point for the GIYC.

The 2024 GIYC Delegation comprised the current co-chairs and regional focal points of the GIYC, and Indigenous Youth delegates who attended the 2023 UNGIYF. Each of the seven socio-cultural regions had two representatives, and the Indigenous Youth leaders came from 14 different Indigenous Peoples’ groups and 14 different countries.

Judy Kipkenda, one of the current co-chairs of the GIYC, was selected and honored as a World Food Day^[3] Hero for her work with Indigenous Women and Youth on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems, seed banks and sustainable farming in Kenya. Kipkenda emphasized throughout World Food Week, and in the different fora, the importance of Indigenous Youth leadership in the transformation of food systems, “Our efforts show a strong commitment to food that respects and integrates our rich cultural heritage and Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge.”

To close out the week, Indigenous Youth organized a main stage event on the margins of the World Food Forum, where they delivered key priorities and messages towards the 2025 3^rd Session of the UNGIYF. FAO Director-General, Dr. Qu Dongyu, attended this event with Indigenous Youth. acknowledging in his closing remarks that: “This Declaration is not just a paper document. It is a call to action that reflects the collective wisdom of Indigenous Youth globally. Because you are the young generation to carry the baton to the future.”

FAO and Indigenous Youth also worked together during the year in other for a, including the 4^th Pacific Climate Change Conference in Samoa; the COP 16 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Colombia; and the 16^th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Saudi Arabia.

FAO actively participated in the 4^th Pacific Climate Change Conference in Samoa and supported a delegation of Indigenous Youth leaders from the Pacific to contribute with key messages from the 2030 Indigenous Youth Rome Declaration to the conference.

In November, during the CBD COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, together with Indigenous Youth leaders, FAO celebrated the adoption of the new Programme of Work on Article 8(j) and the creation of a Subsidiary Body to support the effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in the Convention. Groundbreaking initiatives were unveiled by FAO in partnership with Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, and Indigenous Peoples’ representatives at COP 16, and the importance was emphasized of Indigenous Youth participating in these initiatives to restore degraded ecosystems by putting Indigenous Peoples’ cosmogony, knowledge systems and traditional practices at the center.

During the UNCDD COP 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the FAO Indigenous Peoples’ Unit coordinated with Indigenous Youth from North and West Africa who are leading efforts in their region to combat desertification and maintain mobile livelihoods.

Across every socio-cultural region, Indigenous Youth are mobilizing for the present and future of their food and knowledge systems, the protection and restoration of biodiversity, their land and water rights, and adaptations in the face of climate change for the future of their cultures as Indigenous Peoples. FAO is dedicated to working alongside the young Indigenous leaders around the world to achieve the futures they are striving for and to support their voices being heard in different fora.

Indigenous Peoples’ Biocentric Restoration

As part of the UN Decade on Restoration, in 2018 the FAO Indigenous Peoples’ Unit and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations jointly developed a methodology called “Indigenous Peoples’ Biocentric Restoration”, rooted in the cosmogony and food and knowledge systems of Indigenous Peoples in order to restore degraded ecosystems and reinforce the inter- and intra- generational transmission of knowledge.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Biocentric Restoration programme provides an alternative vision to restoration, away from existing conventional anthropocentric approaches to restoring degraded lands.

The programme started as a series of small pilots with Indigenous Peoples to restore the loss of memory of their territories and re-establish emblematic ecosystems through the beliefs and practices encapsulated within Indigenous Peoples’ cosmogonies and spirituality.

What started as a pilot project in Northeast India, Thailand, Peru and Ecuador is now becoming a global programme, with different countries incorporating the approach. Currently, the global programme has ongoing efforts in, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador, India, and Peru. The initiative has grown to the point of becoming a national plan, officially launched by the President of Costa Rica, and a regional plan in Bolivia and Peru. Recently, the initiative has also attracted more interest from Brazil and Colombia, and the momentum continues to build with Nepal, India, and Kenya.

The programme integrates nature, ecosystems, and biodiversity with belief systems, while respecting the individual, collective, and customary rights of Indigenous Peoples and supporting the continuation of their ancestral food systems.

The approach is innovative because it places Indigenous Peoples as drivers at the center of all the restoration efforts whilst reaffirming their role as custodians of biodiversity. One of the most profound learning experiences during programme implementation has been the need for elders and youth to recover the lost memory of those territories together, not only honoring the wisdom of elders but also ensuring that future generations inherit the necessary knowledge to maintain those ecosystems. Once again, Indigenous Youth and Indigenous Women are central to this work on restoration.

A think tank dedicated to Indigenous Peoples’ Food and Knowledge Systems: The Global-Hub

Although the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems was created in 2018 at the High-Level Expert Seminar on Indigenous Food Systems, its adoption by FAO Members in 2020 at the Committee on Agriculture (COAG) marked an inflexion point for its relevance.

Ever since 2018, the Global-Hub has been coordinating processes of co-creation of knowledge and evidence-building on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems with the objective of making policy recommendations.

In October 2024, the Global-Hub convened its second in-person meeting, bringing together more than 50 experts. Following this meeting, five institutions expressed an interest in joining the Global-Hub, bringing the total number to 37 member institutions and three collaborators, including three global networks.

The meeting agreed to open a stream of work to support the work of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) in its upcoming report on “Preserving, strengthening and promoting Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems and traditional practices for sustainable food systems”. In addition, four new drafting committees have been established, adding to the five existing ones. One of these is composed of the Global-Hub and a task force of Indigenous Youth, which will be delving into a research process and collective paper on the impacts of ultra-processed foods on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples and their food and knowledge systems, as previously mentioned.

The Global-Hub meeting also resulted in the creation of a dedicated Pacific Research Network that brings together Indigenous Youth, leaders of Pacific food security initiatives, research centers, and universities in the Pacific region to organize views and voices from Indigenous Peoples across the Pacific Ocean, leveraging Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems in the Pacific.

The Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems will be releasing several publications on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems in 2025 and 2026.

This chapter was written by Anne Brunel, Yon Fernandez de Larrinoa, Pablo Innecken Zuñiga, Soraya Sadeghi, and Mikaila Way, FAO Indigenous Peoples’ Unit. Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This article is part of the 39^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here

Notes and references

^[1] Rome Declaration 2023 – Statement - Safeguarding Seven Generations in times of Food, Social, and Ecological Crisis. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_tUBp8Igif4pdxIjenqjO7ZD94t5zua4/view

^[2] Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. “My Food Vision Is... campaign.” https://www.fao.org/indigenous-peoples/pillars-of-work/indigenous-youth/my-food-vision-is-campaign/

^[3] Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. “Judy Kipkenda.” https://www.fao.org/world-food-day/food-heroes/detail/judy-kipkenda/en

Tags: Youth, Biodiversity, International Processes