“The first time we introduced indigenous African leafy vegetables in a school meal programme, we didn’t know how the students would respond,” said Aurillia Manjella, an agricultural consultant who helped Mundika high, and several other schools, integrate traditional foods into their menus.
Indigenous Peoples – Consultation or Non-Consultation: Here Lies the Dilemma
Human Wrongs Watch
By Frederica Barclay*
27 November 2020 (IWGIA)* — In Peru, the Bagua Massacre prompted the adoption of the ILO Convention 169 in response to local demands and international pressure. However, far from respecting the communities’ decision, this has led to simulations of consultations that prevent the Indigenous Peoples from exercising their right to autonomy and self-determination. The consultation process, as outlined by the State, has become a threat.
Prior consultation for lot 192 in 2015. Photo: PUINAMUDTThe obligation of States to conduct processes of free, prior and informed consultation and to obtain the consent of the Indigenous or original peoples is a right established by Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1989 and was one of the major vindications enshrined in this global instrument.
UN Warns of an Impending Famine With Millions in Danger of Starvation
Human Wrongs Watch
– The numbers are staggering— as reflected in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which has triggered a new round of food shortages, famine and starvation.
In 2019, Ethiopia experienced the fifth-worst food crisis worldwide. Credit: FAO/IFAD/WFP/Michael Tewelde
According to the Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP) 690 million people do not have enough to eat. while 130 million additional people risk being pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of the year.
“Hunger is an outrage in a world of plenty. An empty stomach is a gaping hole in the heart of a society,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week pointing out that famine is looming in several countries.
Threat of Further Escalation in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Puts Children’s Lives at Risk
Human Wrongs Watch
By UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore*

African Continent Is “Far from Ready” to Roll Out What Will Be Its Largest Ever Immunization Drive – World Health Organization
Human Wrongs Watch
(UN News)* — As efforts to find safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 are showing increasing promise, the African continent is “far from ready” to roll out what will be its largest ever immunization drive, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday [26 November 2020].

Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa highlighted the importance of strong planning and preparation for successful inoculations against COVID-19.
“The largest immunization drive in Africa’s history is right around the corner, and African governments must urgently ramp up readiness. Planning and preparation will make or break this unprecedented endeavour,” she said.
Millions of New Poor Are on the Way – Who Cares?

Everybody had to accept the view that the host of the meeting, the ailing King Salman of Saudi Arabia, was accompanied on TV screens by his apparent heir, Prince Mohamed bin Salman, who is clearly the mastermind of the brutal assassination, dismembering and disappearance of the body of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Crop Certification: Going Green Unlocks Global Markets for Farmers
26 November 2020 (UNEP)* — Over the last 30 years, more and more tea, coffee and cocoa farmers have embraced towards climate-smart and sustainable practices by adopting “certification standards” that help to maintain soil quality, increase productivity and reduce costs. The standards also assure buyers of agricultural commodities that the products in their supply chains are environmentally sustainable.
Photo by Rainforest Alliance / 26 Nov 2020
In July 2020, a milestone was reached when United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) partner, the Rainforest Alliance, published its new unified standard (certification programme) for production systems that conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services.
The standard applies to over 5 million hectares of tropical farmland, impacting the livelihoods of over 2 million farming families.
How to Overcome Water Challenges in Agriculture
Human Wrongs Watch
ROME, 26 November 2020 (FAO)* — More than three billion people live in agricultural areas with high to very high levels of water shortages and scarcity, and almost half of them face severe constraints. Furthermore, available freshwater resources per person have declined by more than 20 percent over the past two decades globally, underscoring the importance of producing more with less, especially in the agriculture sector, the world’s largest user of water.
Q&A: Mro Indigenous Community Plea for Halt of Construction of 5-Star Hotel
Human Wrongs Watch
– The construction of a five-star hotel in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, could lead to the forced eviction of the Mro indigenous community from their ancestral lands and destroy “the social, economic, traditional and cultural fabric of the community”, warns Amnesty International.
Epistemic Violence against Indigenous Peoples
Human Wrongs Watch
By Silvel Elías*
25 November 2020 (IWGIA)* — Injustice regarding the validity of ancestral knowledge has been one of the many racist practices established by the colony. For five centuries, a systematic attack has persisted, in a bid to bring an end to the creation, conservation and transmission of the knowledge of native peoples.

The world of the Q’eqchí. Photo: AEPDI – Q’eqchi Ombudsman Office
In recent decades, religious fundamentalism has rebooted this symbolic violence to divide Indigenous communities and benefit from the installation of extractive projects and large-scale agricultural monocultures.
