Indigenous women are "seed guardians" in Latin America hunger fight, says U.N.

[Judi Lynn]

JANUARY 15, 2018 / 12:33 PM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO

Sophie Hares

TEPIC, Mexico (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Indigenous women in Latin America must be at the centre of efforts to adapt agriculture to deal with the threat of climate change and help tackle hunger and poverty, said a top U.N. food official.

Jose Graziano da Silva, head of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said women were too often left out of development schemes, despite expert knowledge of the environment passed down through generations.

“They have fundamental roles in the spiritual, social and family arenas and are seed guardians - critical carriers of specialised knowledge,” Graziano da Silva told a Mexico City forum.

“Their social and economic empowerment is ... a necessary condition to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in their communities,” he said, according to a statement.

More:
https://in.reuters.com/article/food-women-indigenous/indigenous-women-are-seed-guardians-in-latin-america-hunger-fight-says-u-n-idINKBN1F42E3?rpc=401&

[pscot]

1. Osage planting chant

I made a footprint: it is sacred.
I made a footprint: small green specks push through it.
I made a footprint: new green blades push upward.
I made a footprint: above it, blades wave in the breeze.
I made a footprint: over it grow new stalks.
I made a footprint: above it the blossoms lie gray.
I made a footprint: smoke rises from my house.
I made a footprint: there is laughter in my house.
I made a footprint: my family lives in good health.