No abstract

Many in development are disenchanted with the concept of 'sustainable development', which perpetuates the idea of infinite growth and overreliance on markets for improved well-being. Alejandro Argumedo and Michel Pimbert explore the non-monetized barter markets developed by the Quechua peoples of the Peruvian Andes. They reflect the local philosophy of social reciprocity and ecological equilibrium and can inspire others seeking to support local food sovereignty, ecological diversity and economies based on solidarity rather than greed.

Rural communities in the PeruvianThese form the foundation of the community's ability to successfully respond to the challenges presented by climate change.The limited current adaptation strategies and methods not only neglect these values but also undermine and erode them.Future strategies should instead complement, maintain and utilise these values.

Although Quechua farmers contribute little to climate change, they are disproportionately experiencing the impacts of rapid changes in the high‐altitude environment of the Andes. We describe how Quechua farmers and Association ANDES, a local non‐profit organization, are rising to the challenge in Peru, using traditional knowledge and science in community‐led research to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. A globally important food crop, the potato (Solanum sp.) originated in the central Andean Mountains. Indigenous farmers collectively manage the Potato Park as a Biocultural Heritage Territory, and together with ANDES, are implementing the Pluriversity for Biocultural Landscapes and Resilient Food Systems to facilitate knowledge exchange and creative solution seeking for complex global problems such as climate change. We describe programs that support community resilience, local biocultural heritage, biocultural products and services, and global policy processes strengthening the rights of Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) and world indigenous peoples.

The food systems and territories of Indigenous Peoples sustain much of the world’s biodiversity, cultivated and wild, through agroecological practices rooted in Indigenous cosmovision and cultural and spiritual values. These food systems have a critical role to play in sustainability transformations but are widely threatened and have received limited research attention. This paper presents the results of four virtual workshops with Indigenous Peoples: a global workshop and local workshops with communities in coastal Kenya, northeast India and southwest China. Indigenous participants highlighted the role of their food systems in resilience to climate change, nutrition, sustainability and resilience to pandemics, and threats from agriculture, development and conservation policies. They called for research on the rapid loss of Indigenous knowledge; Indigenous Peoples’ land rights and food sovereignty; and the impacts of industrial agriculture on Indigenous food systems, stressing the need for decolonial approaches to revitalise Indigenous knowledge. The paper presents a decolonial and interdisciplinary framework for action-research on Indigenous food systems past and present, from farm to plate, drawing on the virtual workshops, Andean decolonising methods and historical approaches. It concludes that decolonising action-research, led by Indigenous Peoples, is urgently needed to reverse the rapid loss of food-related biocultural heritage.