Latin America: New Policies needed to Improve the Standard of Living of Indigenous Peoples

By Kanayo F. Nwanze*

September 17, 2010 - The indigenous peoples are the custodians of our Earth, the keepers of our history and the very naval from which our modern civilization emerged.

With this in mind, I call on the decision makers of our world – including organizations like my own, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – to make indigenous peoples’ rights and self-determination a priority.

On a recent visit to IFAD-funded projects in the Guatemalan countryside, I had the unique opportunity of witnessing first-hand how economic and environmental issues are affecting the Quiché Maya and other poor rural communities across Latin America.

I have spent a lifetime working with indigenous peoples across the globe – there are over 370 million in some 70 countries worldwide. And while indigenous peoples account for just 5% of the world’s population, they constitute around 15% of its poor. More frighteningly, while other poor groups are starting to get a leg up and move slowly, but steadily, out of poverty, recent analysis indicates that indigenous peoples tend to stay poor.

So how do we address these challenges and create new policies that at once respect the culture and identity of the world’s indigenous peoples all the while embracing them into the socio-economic engine of progress?

One of the first steps from my organization’s point of view is to acknowledge their cultural diversity as a genuine asset.

In Latin America alone there are over 400 distinct indigenous groups, each with its own language and culture. he traditional practices of the Quiché Maya in Guatemala, the Emberá of Panama, the Quechua of Peru and every diverse group in between, offer us new lessons not only on a spiritual level (we, too, should learn to honor Mother Earth and respect her), but also on a practical one. Traditional know-how long embraced by indigenous peoples is now being integrated with modern technology and is providing us with new agricultural practices that will help ensure long-term sustainability for our stay here on this little blue planet.

I have seen these practices at work in places like Peru, where new irrigation techniques are being integrated with age-old agricultural practices like terrace farming, and are creating higher yields for smallholder farmers in the region and lasting mechanisms to ensure environmental sustainability.

Make no mistake about it, our planet is in peril. And despite having contributed the least to climate change, indigenous peoples are often among the most vulnerable to its impacts, because of their dependence upon the environment and its resources. Moreover, nearly 80% of global biodiversity is housed in areas predominantly inhabited by these peoples.

With this in mind, we need to look to them, these protectors of the Earth, as we work in consultation to create new energy and natural resource management policies that balance out the need to create profitable businesses in the countryside with the global imperative of ensuring sustainable environmental practices.

But this fundamental change is not up to international organizations and government alone… nor should it be. Indigenous leaders and the community members they represent must be the principal drivers in our efforts to end rural poverty and adapt to the effects of climate change. They must also inform our collective dialogue as we work together to create more robust policies and practices that embrace the value and remarkable diversity that adds so much to our society as a whole.

As an organization, we have seen this community-driven approach at work in places like Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Peru, where we are engaging directly with local communities to decide the scope and direction of the projects we fund. Working in consultation with these groups, we are finding new ways to adapt to environmental challenges and create profitable rural enterprises, all the while preserving the rich heritage these unique cultures have to offer.

From this perspective, we can truly say the people in these project areas are no longer beneficiaries of our funding, rather they are the principal actors and protagonists, taking charge of their own destiny as they continue to look for a better life. It is a new approach to development and indigenous peoples' issues, but one that works. We think Mother Earth would agree.

—

* Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze is the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an international financial institution and specialized agency of the United Nations engaged in eradicating rural poverty.