An ACIAR-funded small research activity led by Charles Darwin University is supporting Timor-Leste and the Northern Territory's efforts to strengthen knowledge transfer, recording and documenting of ancestral food systems. These are critical to food security, and encourage the community to reconnect to land through the food of their forebears.
The research activity culminated in wild food fairs in both Timor-Leste and Australia last October. These brought together local communities to share food and exchange knowledge on ways to preserve existing indigenous food resources, and increase food security and community health. Northern Territory elders were also able to visit Timor Leste for training and knowledge sharing.
Focus on yams to promote culture and wellbeing
The research project looked specifically at yams, which are found and used in both Timor-Leste and Northern Australia. In both contexts, yams are a historical survival food that sustained Timorese and the Aboriginal communities. Yam also became significant as a replacement for Timor-Leste's staple rice during the COVID-19 lockdown. Yams continue to hold a key position for culture and wellbeing of communities.
The project teams, including community-based researchers, engaged with war veterans and youth groups in Timor-Leste and elders in the Northern Territory. As well as discussing ancestral food plants and ways to prepare them, project teams also had conversations about ownership and intellectual property rights. The teams provided the community members training on effective community engagement, ethnobotanical research and intellectual property, supported by the University of New South Wales. They discovered a great need for this type of workshop, and need for further work.
Participatory research and living knowledge
ACIAR Research Program Manager, Social Systems, Dr Todd Sanderson said the research aimed to increase capacity among the Timor-Leste and Northern Territory communities so they can become more resilient and develop more sustainable food systems.
'We believe participatory research, where we engage with people as active agents in the projects, results in far greater impact. Sharing knowledge with and between the two communities on the use and value of wild foods will help them to address their aspirations related to ancestral food systems,' said Dr Sanderson.
Research leader with Charles Darwin University, Dr Bevyline Sithole, said there is a lot of knowledge in the communities, but some of it is getting lost. She added that in both countries, indigenous knowledge is 'living' and continues to be passed on between generations.
'In both countries, there was a certain urgency from the communities wanting to do more of this type of work,' said Dr Sithole. 'The project provided an excellent platform for knowledge exchange at all levels - international, national and community level.'
Local concerns addressed at food fair events
Each event had a local flavour when it came to community concerns. In the Northern Territory, there was greater concern for safeguarding knowledge from exploitation by businesses who are not following the right protocols to access knowledge. Project collaborator and Larrakia community leader, Dr Lorraine Williams, underlined the importance of nuanced use of indigenous knowledge, which does not always need to be public or shared with everyone.
'The loss of traditional knowledge associated with how to collect the plant by the younger generations is important to some Aboriginal groups in Australia,' said Dr Williams. 'This project promoted important discussion on the traditional knowledge and possible future cultivation of yams, as well as the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and habitat protection.'
In Timor-Leste, there was a strong push at the public event to engage the government to set up mechanisms to facilitate communities to do more to preserve and pass on their knowledge. Veteran and community leader from Uatolari in Timor-Leste, Mr Paulo Soares da Cruz, said he was proud to be able to participate in the research activities and pass down his knowledge to the younger generation.
Ms Paulina Torres, a project leader and Agora Food Studio's Food Innovation and Finance Officer said the research plays an important role in documenting local food that can help maintain food security and improve nutrition. It also reinforces Timorese's sense of pride in their heritage. 'By engaging the communities from all ages to learn by visuals, we create opportunities for knowledge about wild food to be shared and encourage our communities to be proud of their culture,' said Ms Torres.
'Indigenous wild-sourced foods, and the traditional knowledge that supports their use, are so often undervalued in discussions about food and nutrition security,' said Dr Sanderson. 'I'm pleased that this project is contributing to this essential conversation on indigenous foods, because they will play a key role in building resilient food systems in the face of escalating climatic challenges.'
Learn more about the project via the ACIAR website.
