Paper short abstract:

Indigenous food systems are critical for conserving biodiversity but face multiple threats, including from conservation policies. This paper explores the role of biocultural heritage and biocultural heritage territories in revitalising Indigenous food systems and biodiversity stewardship.

Paper long abstract:

Indigenous farming and food systems sustain rich biodiversity and deliver multiple benefits (for food security, resilience, health and wellbeing) but are facing unprecedented threats from agricultural modernisation, conservation and development policies, and lack of recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Many conservation policies still fail to recognise the fundamental role of Indigenous cultural and spiritual values, norms and practices, and contribute to their erosion. This paper presents evidence of the role of Indigenous values and worldviews in biodiversity conservation, drawing on research in Peru, Kenya, India and China. It presents the concept of ‘biocultural heritage’ as an alternative conservation and development framing which reflects Indigenous holistic worldviews and bridges sectors and knowledge systems. It explores successful efforts to revitalise Indigenous food systems through Biocultural Heritage Territories such as the Potato Park in Peru, and efforts to establish such territories in other contexts and continents.

Paper short abstract:

Neglected Underutilised Species (NUS) have been identified as a potential solution to the world’s food challenges, however, there is limited effort in their conservation. We present two case studies from the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP), where NUS is at the center of conservation efforts.

Paper long abstract:

As the world moves to a post-2020 Biodiversity Plan, we must acknowledge that the rate of global environmental damage is still increasing, alongside rising levels of malnutrition and food insecurity. Plants underpin all life on earth and are still a vital source of income for millions globally, making their conservation even more of a priority for the future of the planet and its people. Neglected Underutilised Species (NUS), which include crop wild relatives (CWR) and wild harvested edible plants, have been identified as a potential solution to the global challenges we currently face. Evidence has shown how NUS can enhance health through diversifying diets, supporting livelihoods, and developing more resilient food systems. Despite their potential, NUS have largely been understudied and their conservation status is largely unknown. Addressing these global challenges requires collaborative effort from a varied partnership and a multipronged approach to conservation. Here we present two case studies from the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP) where previously neglected useful plants are at the centre of conservation efforts. Through the Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change project, we highlight a logical pipeline from identification, conservation, and eventual use of CWRs in agri-food systems to address food security at the global scale. At the other end of the spectrum, we present work at a more regional and local scale, where understanding local perceptions of wild harvested plants and community engagement is key to conserving fruit and nut species in the biodiversity hotspot of the South Caucasus.

Paper short abstract:

The study examines the different indigenous food that exist and are consumed by the people of Ovoko Southeastern Nigeria. The primary aim is to investigate and study these food crops within the context of their cultivation, cooking and consumption from a historical/archaeological persceptives.

Paper long abstract:

The study examines the different indigenous foods that exist and are consumed by the people of Ovoko Southeastern Nigeria. The primary aim is to investigate and study these food crops within the context of their cultivation, cooking and consumption. Key issues such as the preparation processes, conservation methods, taboos associated with food as well as the different traditions and cultural festivals of the people in this area was also documented for posterity.

In Ovoko, fewer studies have been conducted on food heritage. However, none of these researches have been linked with the culture, value systems and traditions of the people from a historical/archaeological perceptive. Hence this study which seeks to understand the relationship between food and everyday life of the people in the study area. The methodology of ‘case study’ was employed, and data were collected using questionnaires and in depth interview addressed to respondents in three different villages. The result shows that food though consumed when hungry is pivotal in the everyday life, be it traditional, symbolic, political and socio-cultural life of the people of Ovoko community. All these segments are sustained by the local peoples indigenious knowledge systems and cultural values which is the fabric of this community.

Paper short abstract:

Indigenous communities are known to utilize complex ecological relationships to establish rich agro-ecosystems wherein local crop diversity serves a multi-functional role. Community values attached to these crops are integral to arriving at comprehensive evaluations and promotion strategies.

Paper long abstract:

In less than half a century since the widespread implementation of ‘Green revolution’ production practices regarding rice, the Indian agricultural sector is experiencing a major sustainability crisis with diminishing returns, widespread environmental pollution and emergent nutritional gaps. In contrast Pokkali (a scarce grown indigenous rice variety) farmers have grown rice sustainably in ecologically fragile intertidal wetlands for generations. This landrace has garnered renewed interest as a climate resilient future smart food owing to its salinity-tolerance and morphological traits that allow it to withstand periods of water logging; warranting top-down policy interventions to establish a value chain and incentivise farmers to increase production with limited success. Pokkali production is placed within a larger traditional agricultural practice that integrates paddy with trees and aquaculture wherein it serves as a multi-functional component of a larger system that provides a range of services to the local community (as well as providing food and nutritional security). The plants selected to constitute this system also plays a facilitating role i.e. the rice breed is part of a mixture of beneficial biodiversity that functions as an integrated whole that provides to meet the community’s needs. In this context the adverse impact on community held traditional pokkali seed collections and production output resulting from disruptions to the larger human-managed environment it is harboured within because of policy intervention and policy-induced changes in production practices are explored.

Paper long abstract:

India, a mega-diversity country is endowed with rich natural heritage and indigenous peoples as its custodians. Soon after independence in 1947; agricultural policies and programmes started to promote green revolution technologies and subsidies across the country. However, situation changed at the turn of the century and many interventions were launched in seed conservation, organic farming and revival of older crops and varieties. These small steps have caught on and now evolved into programmes for natural farming with some sensitivity towards , nutrition in promotion of millets and other traditional crops especially in regions predominantly inhabited by indigenous peoples.

These interventions are now being planned at the grassroots level by the village elected representatives and leaders of women self-help groups taking the ownership of programmatic planning at the village level. Many NGOs are also playing a key role in capacity building as well as demonstrations of sustainable and agro-ecological agriculture for the community as well as government functionaries. These lessons are being woven into State and National plans and policies; though biocultural heritage and spiritual values of agrarian landscapes and lifestyles have still not found adequate space. This paper provides a glimpse into some of the salient aspects of this journey in terms of ‘what’ is happening and ‘how’ its being planned, implemented and promoted as positive as well as negative lessons. These lessons may be particularly useful for countries predominantly inhabited by smallholders and are rich in natural resources and traditional heritage agriculture systems.

Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses an interdisciplinary and international collaboration bringing together historians, plant scientists, heritage practitioners and a local farmer to resurrect a heritage rice variety from north India of particular cultural and historical significance to the local cuisine.

Paper long abstract:

Staple to the winter diet of Rampuri Muslims across all social strata in north India is khichdi. A simple dish made of rice, dal and spices, its cultural and historical significance is captured in ongoing social functions and historic Urdu and Persian cookbooks. Since the 1980s, however, the rice variety on which it relied, tilak chandan, has been replaced in the local rice-growing belt by high yield basmati associated with India’s Green Revolution. The disappearance of this local rice variety reflects broader trends in agro-biodiversity in India: a country that had been home to over 100,000 rice varieties has seen the numbers dwindle to a few thousand. What are the tangible losses in terms of flavour, texture and fragrance, as well as nutrition and sustainability? Are there less tangible cultural values, perhaps in terms of heritage foods and rituals, that have been lost too? To answer these questions, this paper discusses an interdisciplinary and international collaboration bringing together historians, plant scientists, heritage practitioners and a local farmer to resurrect tilak chandan.