
Climate change and COVID-19: Reinforcing Indigenous food systems
Climate change is affecting Indigenous food systems, making Indigenous populations vulnerable to food and nutritional insecurity. The nature and extent of the effects of COVID-19 on Indigenous food systems include mortality from severe illness, reduced access to food, changes in local diet, and economic losses resulting from lockdowns.
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OVERVIEW
The report talks about the implications of climate change on Indigenous food systems, and the COVID-19 pandemic complexities that exacerbate the health inequities of Indigenous populations. Indigenous populations are at high risk from COVID-19 because of factors such as discrimination, social exclusion, land dispossession, and a high prevalence of forms of malnutrition.
Climate change is compounding many of these causes of health inequities, undermining coping mechanisms that are traditionally used to manage extreme events such as pandemics, and disrupting food systems and local diets. Hence, this report focuses on addressing underlying structural inequities and strengthening Indigenous knowledge systems, offering opportunities for building resilience to compound socioecological shocks, including climate effects and pandemics.
Climate change is affecting Indigenous food systems, making Indigenous populations vulnerable to food and nutritional insecurity. Inadequate health service provision for Indigenous populations, including scant access to culturally safe services, adds another layer of complexity in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report highlights examples of existing climate change effects and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, on Indigenous populations in various regions like Peruvian Amazon, Arctic and Uganda.
Shawi Indigenous communities from Peruvian Amazon have chosen to self-isolate in the forest during the COVID-19 pandemic. These communities rely on traditional diets and Indigenous knowledge of local food systems, and they have little availability and accessibility to external food and government food-aid programmes. During this self-isolation, reliance on Indigenous food systems is inextricably linked to Indigenous knowledge about the land, rivers, and biodiversity, which includes knowledge of local techniques to preserve and prepare food. However, food from the forest is being affected by biodiversity and vegetation loss as a result of climatic and societal changes.
Similarly, Inuit from the Arctic region are experiencing rapid rates of global warming. The remoteness of the region and travel restrictions have helped curtail the spread of COVID-19; however, disruptions to supply networks have had effects on food availability in communities that rely on retail food flown in from southern regions. To manage these disruptions, harvesting and sharing local foods, which is widely practiced in many Arctic regions, has helped maintain food and nutrition security. Simultaneously, extreme weather conditions such as record-breaking temperatures, drought, and wildfires have compromised these local Indigenous food systems.
Some of the indigenous populations (eg, Batwa) living in Uganda have adhered to COVID-19 measures, including physical distancing, staying home, and avoiding trading centres because of crowds, but this has posed a challenge for food and nutrition security by restricting access to markets. Furthermore, timely government food aid has not adequately reached Indigenous populations. The extended lockdown due to climate effects and flooding in 2019, hampered their mobility to access forested areas for foraging, access to nearby communities to offer labour for food exchange, and access to agricultural fields for food production.
Hence, understanding, strengthening, and protecting Indigenous food systems by taking into consideration changing climate is a key to post pandemic recovery.
KEY INSIGHTS
- Climate change is compounding many health inequities due to factors such as discrimination, social exclusion, land dispossession, and a high prevalence of forms of malnutrition. Because of these factors, Indigenous populations are at especially high risk from COVID-19.
- Climate change is affecting Indigenous food systems, making Indigenous populations vulnerable to food and nutritional insecurity.
- Addressing underlying structural inequities and strengthening Indigenous knowledge systems offer opportunities for building resilience to compound socio-ecological shocks, including climate effects and pandemics.
- Inadequate health service provisions for Indigenous populations, including scant access to culturally safe services, adds another layer of complexity in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Disruptions to food and nutrition security and the resulting health implications for Indigenous populations during pandemics exacerbate their vulnerability to climate change.
- Climate change challenges the resilience of Indigenous food systems with direct and immediate repercussions for the health and nutrition of Indigenous populations.
- Indigenous populations need to be supported from climate change and pandemics by protecting their knowledge system, by improving access to culturally safe health resources, by safeguarding access and rights to land, and the natural resources of Indigenous populations.