During its 51st plenary session (held from October 23-27, 2023), the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) approved its four-year Programme of Work (MYPOW 2024-2027). As part of this, the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) was tasked with producing a report on “Preserving, Strengthening, and Promoting Indigenous Peoples’ Food and Knowledge Systems and Traditional Practices for Sustainable Food Systems.” This report is set to be presented at the 54th CFS plenary session in October 2026.
This draft scoping paper explores how Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems can offer solutions to improve food security, nutrition, and support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The focus is on preserving, strengthening, and promoting these systems and practices within a rights-based policy framework, with the aim of developing a set of action-oriented policy recommendations.
Extensive research has documented the negative impacts Indigenous Peoples face when separated from their traditional food systems. These impacts include food insecurity, malnutrition, loss of food biodiversity, and missed opportunities to transform food systems into more resilient and sustainable ones (Kuhnlein et al., 2009, 2013). The 2023 HLPE-FSN report on Reducing Inequalities for Food Security and Nutrition recommends that policy and legislation be guided by Indigenous knowledge and associated data, in order to expand the evidence base for food security and nutrition (FSN) policies and actions, and to address the systemic inequalities disproportionately affecting Indigenous Peoples.
Reviewing, consolidating, and presenting FSN recommendations across relevant sectors and disciplines will highlight key policy priorities for achieving the CFS vision, the UN SDGs, and advancing the realisation of the right to food and the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The feedback from this consultation will be used by the HLPE-FSN to develop the report, which will first be released as a V0 draft for e-consultation, followed by peer review, before final approval by the HLPE-FSN drafting team and Steering Committee. The report is intended to benefit Indigenous Peoples and the broader global community through the CFS.’
Contribute to the consultation.