SHILLONG: An expert seminar on indigenous food system was held in Rome from November 7 to 9 in which NESFAS chairman Phrang Roy addressed the first session while Dr. Melari Nongrum, Executive Director of NESFAS and Dr. Bhogtoram Mawroh, Senior Associate (Research) of NESFAS presented the case study of the profiling of the local food systems of Nongtraw village, East Khasi Hills.
This was the first ever expert seminar on Indigenous Food Systems organised by the United Nations in response to a call by many indigenous communities.
The studies undertaken in different parts of the world looked at aspects such as: trends and dynamism of the indigenous food systems, the resilience to climate change, the role of traditional knowledge transmission, nutrition and food security, access to markets and the use of energy and resources within a given food system.
In December 2017, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in collaboration with several institutions including the Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty (TIP) headed by Phrang Roy and NEFAS undertook the task of profiling indigenous food systems around the world.
The expert seminar, after an indigenous invocation and welcoming addresses started with a three minutes video clip called ‘3000 Steps’ depicting the aspiration of some young people in Nongtraw village, which was appreciated by the audience.
The NESFAS delegation also had separate consultative sessions with the nutrition and food systems professionals of FAO, IFAD and Bioversity International.
