Two Sámi lavvus—traditional nomadic tents—stood inside the Food and Agriculture Organization’s headquarters in Rome, creating an Indigenous Peoples’ gathering place at the center of the UN agency. There, Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders, knowledge holders and researchers from all seven sociocultural regions of the world opened the fourth annual meeting of the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food and Knowledge Systems.
The meeting took place during the week of World Food Day and the World Food Forum. Its purpose is practical: to bring Indigenous knowledge and science into research and policy, and to help shape responses to global challenges. Indigenous Peoples have long developed knowledge about food, land and nature. The Global-Hub works to ensure that this expertise informs decisions about food security and other issues, with Indigenous Peoples treated as partners in the work.
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu opened the ceremony by recognizing the shared history and ancestral ties linking all people to Indigenous Peoples. He described the Hub’s participants as intermediaries who help pass knowledge from one generation to the next, and urged them to learn from and work alongside Indigenous communities. The proceedings began with a spiritual ceremony and the lighting of a fire with Chief Deskaheh of the Haudenosaunee Nation.
Among those taking part were María José Pinto, Vice President of Ecuador, who spoke about the importance of Indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditions in her country. Oscar Mario Justiniano, Bolivia’s minister for sustainable development, environment and water, and Gita Chaudhary, Nepal’s minister for agriculture and livestock development, also attended. Government representatives came from Guatemala, Ireland, Panama and South Africa. The gathering included UN Special Rapporteur Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, IFAD official Pieternel Boogaard, Sámi leader Anders Oskal, Māori leader Valmaine Toki and Cree Chief Wilton Littlechild of Canada.
Since it began in 2018, the Global-Hub has grown into a strategic forum involving 40 organizations and institutions, five international research networks and more than 250 experts. Its approach is to create knowledge across cultures and use evidence to support policy discussions. A 2021 publication, the White/Wiphala Paper, drew lessons from Indigenous food and knowledge systems and became a resource for policy debate around the world.
The work is set to continue. At the 2026 expert meeting, the Hub plans to launch the White/Te Oranga Paper, focused on Indigenous Peoples and overcoming rural transformation that leaves them out. The 2026 program will also mark one year of the HOPE Room, an Indigenous-dedicated space at FAO’s Food and Agriculture Museum and Network where communities can share their stories on their own terms. Sessions are planned on science and innovation, vulnerability and prosperity, conservation and restoration, mobility and nutrition, as well as climate change and Indigenous rights. Evening country reflections around a hearth and dinners prepared by five Indigenous chefs will bring participants together.
The gathering’s central idea is that better food policies can come from listening to the people who have cared for their lands and food systems across generations. By connecting their knowledge with research and decision-making, the Global-Hub aims to help that expertise reach beyond the meeting in Rome and shape action for food security.