Well-being for Everyone: Food Security and Management Agreements in the Framework of Diversity and Conservation

Indigenous people in the Amazon have a lot of experience in domestication of seeds and cultivating a large diversity of agricultural products in the complex and sometimes unfriendly tropical forest environment. This knowledge should be recovered, protected and applied to guarantee food security for indigenous and other communities living in the Amazon. The indigenous sophisticated cultivation systems in tropical forests should be considered in climate change scenarios in which a variety of plants that may resist long droughts and unexpected flooding are needed.

Food security is a complex issue and a challenge for the region as it implies forest management, agricultural practices, management agreements of the territory, social and cultural aspects and political negotiations. TBI Colombia with its long working experience and information compiled in these subjects in the area is developing a project that guarantees food security and the autonomy of local communities.
TBI Colombia aims through this project to:

• Make a diagnostic of the local chagras;
• Monitor the local consumption of agricultural products;
• Disseminate local knowledge and practices related to the management of natural resources within the communities and the institutions working in the area;
• Develop production alternatives based on the traditional practices of indigenous communities;
• Recover sustainable management strategies;
• Identify plant species resistant to the effects of climate change (drought and flooding) and establish seed banks.