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Rethinking hierarchies of evidence for sustainable food systems

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Indigenous Peoples’ and other traditional knowledge systems are deemed ‘unscientific’ when assessed against conventional hierarchies of evidence. Science–policy processes building on the commitments of the UN Food Systems Summit must ensure that due recognition, acceptance and prominence are given to traditional knowledge.

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Fig. 1: Conventional hierarchy of scientific evidence.

References

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Acknowledgements

Not all members of The Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems have contributed to this paper and are listed here, although they have approved it.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indigenous Peoples Unit of the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy

    Charlotte Milbank, Anne Brunel & Yon Fernandez de Larrinoa

  2. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Charlotte Milbank

  3. Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

    Barbara Burlingame

  4. Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Rome, Italy

    Danny Hunter

  5. Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham, UK

    Tania Eulalia Martinez-Cruz & Pamela Katic

  6. Tin Hinan Association for the Empowerment of Nomadic Women, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

    Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine

  7. The Indigenous Partnership on Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty (TIP), Rome, Italy

    Phrang Roy

  8. Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo, Quintana Roo, Mexico

    Francisco J. Rosado-May

  9. CEFE, Univer Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France

    Edmond Dounias

Consortia

The Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems

  • Charlotte Milbank
  • , Barbara Burlingame
  • , Danny Hunter
  • , Anne Brunel
  • , Yon Fernandez de Larrinoa
  • , Tania Eulalia Martinez-Cruz
  • , Pamela Katic
  • , Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine
  • , Phrang Roy
  • , Francisco J. Rosado-May
  •  & Edmond Dounias

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charlotte Milbank.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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The Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems. Rethinking hierarchies of evidence for sustainable food systems. Nat Food 2, 843–845 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00388-5

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