Investing in local products and bringing this diversity back into our diets is one of the most important challenges that we have today.
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva. 2018 (1)
![What is cultural revitalization?](/media/7458549/main-qimg-7bb2c0e8fb87ce2e278ca14460b86402.webp?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=400&height=0&&rnd=133679486700000000)
Source: https://www.quora.com/What-is-cultural-revitalization
Introduction to the problem and scale
- Cultural diversity is indispensable for poverty reduction and the achievement of sustainable development.
- Biodiversity and cultural diversity are linked, as both support our life and well-being and nurture our beliefs.
- Culture and food diversity are established over generations and grounded in what can be grown, reared, or caught. They are linked to food production, diet, cooking traditions and how and when we eat food.
- As urbanisation increases, so more people are shifting away from traditional diets rich in vegetables, whole grains and other plant-based foods towards a more homogenised – or western diet
- The Western diet, which is characterised by highly processed foods, added sugars, fats and animal-based foods, competes directly with traditional diets around the world. This ‘nutrition transition’ is spreading globally to many low and middle-income countries and bears heavily on our health (2)
- “The scale of rural transformation in recent decades has been unprecedented: millions of people have abandoned their ancestral lands and migrated to urban areas, often impoverishing cultural identity, abandoning traditional knowledge, and permanently altering landscapes.” (3)
- Locally diverse food production systems are under threat and, with them, the accompanying local knowledge, culture and skills of the food producers. (4)
Link to intensive animal farming
- The intensive production of animals for food is a cornerstone of the Western diet and agricultural system that have spread globally and impacted the consumption of traditional diets.
- As a result of industrial farming and the increased uptake of a western diet, we have lost our connection to the cultural diversity of food and the local knowledge that it entails. Food is now seen as just a commodity. (5)
- Currently, 75% of the world’s food is generated from only 12 plants and 5 animal species. (6)
- Of 7,745 local breeds of livestock, 26% are classified at risk of extinction. (7)
- Of the 6,000 plant species that have been cultivated for food, nine account for 66% of total crop production. (8)
- Rice, maize, and wheat contribute nearly 60% of the calories and proteins obtained by humans from plants. (9)
- “A wide range of genetic variation is needed for crop breeding to help species adapt to changing environmental conditions, including new pests and diseases”. (10)
- “Overreliance on too few varieties and species is leaving the food system unnecessarily exposed to shocks and stresses” Biodiversity International (11)
- A third of the worlds’ land surface is used for agriculture and livestock. The growing intensification of food production “has disturbed cultural landscapes, sustained over thousands of years”. (12)
Link to the relevant SDG(S)
- SDG 2: Zero Hunger: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
- SDG 3: Good health and wellbeing: Ensure healthy live and promote well-being for all at all ages
- SDG 5: Gender equality: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- SDG 14: Life below water: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resourced for sustainable development
- SDG 15: Life on land: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss (13)
![SDG report 2023, infographics Goal 15.jpg](/media/7458541/sdg_report_2023_infographics_goal-15.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=730&height=0&&rnd=133679400930000000)
Goal 15 infographic, source: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2023/
- FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva. November 2018, https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/Food-diversity-expresses-cultural-heritage-and-is-key-for-healthy-diets/
- Popkin BM, Adair LS, Ng SW. Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries. Nutr Rev. 2012;70(1):3–21. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2011.00456.
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. 2017. The Global Land Outlook, first edition. Bonn, Germany. https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/documents/2017-09/GLO_Full_Report_low_res.pdf
- What is happening to agrobiodiversity? Food and Agriculture Organisation http://www.fao.org/3/y5609e/y5609e02.htm
- Pretty, J Agri-Culture Reconnecting People, Land and Nature. Earthscan. 2003
- FAO. 2019. The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture, J. Bélanger & D. Pilling (eds.). FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Assessments. Rome. 572 pp. (http://www.fao.org/3/CA3129EN/CA3129EN.pdf) Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
- Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS) (FAO,2017).
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. What is agrobiodiversity? https://www.fao.org/4/y5956e/Y5956E03.htm#TopOfPage
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. What is agrobiodiversity?https://www.fao.org/4/y5956e/Y5956E03.htm#TopOfPage
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. 2017. The Global Land Outlook, first edition. Bonn, Germany. https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/documents/2017-09/GLO_Full_Report_low_res.pdf
- New Study Reveals Agrobiodiversity Investments as Triple Win for Health, Environment andFood System Sustainability 26/09/2017 Press Release. Webpage https://www.bioversityinternational.org/
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. 2017. The Global Land Outlook, first edition. Bonn, Germany. https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/documents/2017-09/GLO_Full_Report_low_res.pdf
- United Nations Department of Economic Social Affairs Sustainable Development https://sdgs.un.org/goals