While the pandemic and war in Ukraine has led to significant increases in food insecurity, some of the impacts of the last few years have had surprising results for Indigenous communities around the world. Particularly in India, the pandemic led to a migration of urban workers, many of whom had become dependent on state level support for their food and livelihoods, back to their tribal areas in order to eat and live. 

In this session, we hear from a speaker from an Indigenous community in Kerala who has witnessed firsthand a community revival of skills and knowledge in Indigenous and local food and farming practices over the last few years.  Also from a group supporting the Lumads, an Indigenous people in Mindanao in the Philippines, who are reviving their cultural practices in food production and working to strengthen their knowledge base and build  new practices with the help of local CSOs and peoples’ movements.

We will also hear from a speaker working with Indigenous farmers in Benin on the production of organic cotton. soja and ground nuts.  They will speak about how women farmers are trained to process, improve and market their quality shea nut better and other strategies they have developed to promote organic agriculture locally.