Community-based monitoring of Indigenous food security in a changing climate: global trends and future directions

Steven Lam,James Ford,Kelly Skinner,Andrew Papadopoulos,Chloe Zivot,Sherilee L Harper,Warren Dodd,Patricia J Garcia

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab13e4

Abstract

Climate change is expected to exacerbate existing food security challenges, especially in Indigenous communities worldwide. Community-based monitoring (CBM) is considered a promising strategy to improve monitoring of, and local adaptation to climatic and environmental change. Yet, it is unclear how this approach can be applied in food security or Indigenous contexts. The objectives of this paper are to: (1) review and synthesize the published literature on CBM of Indigenous food security; and, (2) identify gaps and trends in these monitoring efforts in the context of climate change. Using a systematic search and screening process, we identified 86 published articles. To be included, articles had to be published in a journal, describe a CBM system, describe any aspect of food security, and explicitly mention an Indigenous community. Relevant articles were thematically analyzed to characterize elements of CBM in the context of climate change. Results show that the number of articles published over time was steady and increased more than two-fold within the last five years. The reviewed articles reported on monitoring mainly in North America (37%) and South America (28%). In general, monitoring was either collaborative (51%) or externally-driven (37%), and focused primarily on tracking wildlife (29%), followed by natural resources (16%), environmental change (15%), fisheries (13%), climate change (9%), or some combination of these topics (18%). This review provides an evidence-base on the uses, characteristics, and opportunities of CBM, to guide future food security monitoring efforts in the context of climate change.

Highlights

Enhancing the resilience of different food systems to climate change via monitoring is an important global health opportunity of the 21st century [1]
This review provides an evidence-base on the uses, characteristics, and opportunities of Community-based monitoring (CBM), to guide future food security monitoring efforts in the context of climate change
Considering the promise of CBM, the disproportionate food security challenges experienced by Indigenous communities, and the high sensitivity of Indigenous food systems to climate change, the goal of our review was to understand and learn from how CBM has been used globally to track and respond to Indigenous food security and climate-related food challenges

Summary

Introduction

Enhancing the resilience of different food systems to climate change via monitoring is an important global health opportunity of the 21st century [1]. Through routine monitoring and assessments of climate-related risks and their interplay with food security, along with linking early warnings to early responses, food and nutrition crises can be better managed [2, 3]. Changes in extreme weather events [6, 7], temperature and rainfall variability [8, 9], and sea level [10], threaten food security by decreasing global food production and increasing the risk of hunger and undernutrition [3, 11]. Projections indicate these food-related health impacts will far exceed all other climate-related health risks [12]. Investing in food systems adaptation to climate change across scales, via monitoring, decreases the risks and uncertainties for food and health systems [14]

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Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion