ACROSS the Philippines, Indigenous communities are showing how food, culture, and climate action can thrive together. From the mountains of Kalinga to the forests of Mindanao, they are keeping ancient traditions alive while shaping a new path toward sustainability and food sovereignty.
This November 19 to 23, Indigenous farmers, youth, and food advocates from around Asia and the Pacific will gather in Bacolod City for Terra Madre Asia & Pacific 2025, an international event celebrating ancestral food wisdom and community resilience. Hosted in the Philippines, it will highlight how local Indigenous leaders are redefining the future of food—starting from their own lands.
Among them is Rowena Gonnay of the Kalinga Tribe, an IFAD-supported leader and member of the Unoy Rice Presidium. She has helped establish over 13 Slow Food communities protecting heirloom, climate-resilient rice varieties that were once on the brink of extinction. Her work proves that cultural heritage and biodiversity are inseparable—and that women farmers can lead both.
Young leaders like Alicia Kate Bayangan, Daniel Jason Maches, and Jamar Garcia are part of the next wave of Indigenous advocates. Their projects link entrepreneurship with tradition, blending forest protection, agroecology, and community-based education. Through storytelling, training, and small food enterprises, they remind the public that the future of farming depends on how we treat the land and the people who care for it.
“Our food carries the memory of our ancestors and the promise of a fairer future,” says Gonnay. “Protecting it means protecting who we are.”
The Philippines’ Indigenous communities are part of the wider Slow Food Indigenous Peoples Network (SFIPsN), supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Across the country, IFAD’s investments empower small-scale farmers—especially women and youth—to adapt to climate change through sustainable farming, resilient infrastructure, and nature-based solutions.
As the host of Terra Madre Asia & Pacific 2025, the Philippines stands as a beacon for the region—a nation where ancestral knowledge, biodiversity, and community-driven innovation meet. Here, the wisdom of Indigenous peoples is not a story of the past; it’s a living blueprint for the planet’s future.
