The recent UN Food Summit brought together global leaders to address one of humanity’s most pressing challenges: securing food for all.
The 2nd UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) took place from 27 to 29 July 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, co-hosted by Ethiopia and Italy. The Summit aimed to provide a platform for reflecting on progress, strengthening collaboration, and unlocking finance and investments to accelerate the transformation of food systems.
Among the most critical voices at the Summit were representatives of Indigenous Peoples, four in total, including two ILC members: Groupe AZUL in Morocco represented by Amina Amharech and CENESTA in Iran represented by Hanieh Moghani.
The reflections of Indigenous leaders Amina and Hanieh emphasise that lasting food security depends on recognising and protecting Indigenous land rights and transforming governance to centre the people who live in, care for, and depend on the land.
Their calls go far beyond symbolic inclusion; they advocate for meaningful action and genuine participation within policies that fully incorporate Indigenous land governance into the management of land and food systems, all aimed at securing food for all.
Indigenous Voices must Shape Solutions
For Amina, the summit was significant in that Indigenous voices were present and organised, marking a sign of progress. However, she warned that
"being invited to speak is not enough. It’s important to listen, but it’s also important to act… Otherwise, our knowledge is treated as a ‘showpiece’ while business as usual continues.”
This sentiment was echoed by Hanieh, who observed that many Indigenous leaders boycotted the summit due to feeling isolated and excluded, and due to the absence of the topic of the genocide in Gaza and 'food as a weapon'.
“They thought that it is not about them, it is not for them.”
Despite certain resistance, a small number of Indigenous leaders still attended, recognising the necessity of seizing even the smallest openings to raise their voices.
Land Rights are Fundamental; Land is Life
For many Indigenous communities, the concept of “land” as property or economic asset is a colonial imposition. As Hanieh expressed:
“Land, even in our cosmology, is a new word… it is a colonised word. We prefer to call it ‘territories of life’ because our relationship to this place is about movement, culture, and the sustaining of life itself.”
This human-centred view goes hand in hand with that governance and stewardship of land must be rooted in the lived realities, traditions, and rights of the people who depend on the land.
Without secure territories, the food systems, water, and seeds that Indigenous communities have stewarded for generations become vulnerable to dispossession and degradation, and Indigneous communities lose their power to profit-first endeavours.
Land Rights at the Core of Food Sovereignty
Amina made clear the inseparability of land rights from the very notion of food sovereignty, as without land, Indigenous peoples cannot sustain their foods, cultures, or lives:
“Without guaranteed access to land, there is no food sovereignty. And without food sovereignty, there is no true food security.”
This principle challenges predominant food systems driven by mass production and export, which prioritise profits over the well-being and choices of local communities.
For the Indigenous communities that Amina and Hanieh represent, land is more than a resource; it is intrinsic to identity and well-being. Indigenous perspectives remind us that meaningful food security only arises when communities decide about their land, seeds, and production according to their own ecological knowledge and cultural priorities.
Colonial Legacies and the need for Governance Reform
Amina also emphasised how industrial agriculture, colonial extraction, and export-oriented farming are key drivers of climate change. Colonial and mercantile legacies continue to shape current governance systems—a root cause of ecological crisis and social injustice. Amina warned:
“Climate change isn’t just something that happened by chance. It is rooted in colonial and industrial approaches that exploit land and people with no regard for sustainability.”
Human-centred land governance calls for decolonising these structures by centering Indigenous governance systems, which traditionally share resources more equitably, protect territories, and ensure sustainable use for future generations. As Amina put it:
"Inclusive governance cannot mean inserting Indigenous peoples into Western institutions. It must mean recognising Indigenous modes of governance and stewardship that existed long before colonisation.”
Indigenous Knowledge protect Territories
Human-centred governance also means valuing Indigenous science and knowledge systems, such as the participatory evolutionary plant breeding shared by Hanieh:
“Our farmers cultivate seeds in populations, not single varieties, allowing adaptation over time to stresses like drought and climate change.”
Reviving this ancient practice of evolutionary plant breeding since 2008, communities ensure their seeds—and their futures—are resilient in a changing world. Such approaches reflect deep relationships to land, resilience, and adaptability—tools critical to sustaining territories amid rapid environmental change.
Barriers to Securing Funding to Protect their Land
Despite their deep connection to territories of life, Indigenous peoples face persistent barriers. Hanieh described how unilateral coercive sanctions and political exclusions prevent many from accessing international funds essential for protecting their lands and food systems:
“Countries like Iran, Venezuela, and Palestine cannot receive funding because we do not have international bank accounts. This worsens our capacity to secure our food and seed sovereignty.”
These challenges highlight why human-centred land governance must be paired with global policy reforms to ensure that Indigenous communities are able to defend and manage their territories.
A note on Resilience
While Indigenous peoples have historically adapted to change, Amina cautioned against romanticising resilience to the point of complacency.
“After COVID, people say, ‘Indigenous communities are resilient’—but there’s a risk resilience is used as an excuse. If we are always required to adapt, without real system change, it’s no longer resilience—it’s resignation.”
This distinction matters: true resilience empowers communities to thrive on their own terms, rather than having to survive imposed hardships.
Moving Forward: Land Justice as Food Justice
The testimonies from the two Indigneous leaders at the UN Food Summit reiterate a clear message: land rights and governance that respect Indigenous peoples are foundational to just and sustainable food systems. Protecting territories of life, restoring Indigenous stewardship, and transforming governance models away from colonial frameworks are urgent steps toward food sovereignty and climate resilience.
As Amina concluded:
“Governments must recognise the rights to land and governance that existed before colonialism, valuing the wisdom and stewardship Indigenous peoples continue to provide.”
In centering human relationships to land and embracing Indigenous governance, policymakers can nurture systems that nourish people and planet alike—ensuring food justice is truly rooted in land justice.
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