El bien “estar” alimentario para la sostenibilidad cultural y territorial del pueblo originario Yanakuna de Colombia

Hugo Alexander Semanate Quiñónez and Lisandro José Alvarado-Peña

Agroalimentaria Journal - Revista Agroalimentaria, 2026, vol. 32, issue 62

Abstract: Indigenous peoples have a worldview rooted in their relationship with Mother Earth, known as “Allpamama.” This connection, expressed through socio-cultural imaginaries, guides their daily life, spirituality, and territorial organization. For the Yanakuna people of southern Huila, Colombia, these traditional practices are the foundation of territorial “well-being” and balance with their territory. However, in recent decades, these practices have not been effectively integrated into productive processes or traditional pedagogical processes, which has generated a rupture in the ways and cycles of life of the communities, weakening the cultural and food processes of the communities. This work examines the ancestral chagra Yanakuna production system as a means to enhance the food security of the Yanakuna People. It proposes to revalue the chagra as an agroecological, cultural, and spiritual system that articulates food production, the intergenerational transmission of knowledge, the conservation of biodiversity, and the strengthening of cultural identity. The research combined scientometric tools and the ethnographic approach. Databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, Dimensions, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, and Google Scholar were consulted, selecting the most relevant documents through the Tree of Science tool on territorial sustainability and chagra. In the ethnographic component, methodological tools such as participant observation, in-depth interviews, participatory workshops, and dialogue of knowledge were applied. The results show how the Yanakunas of Huila seek to improve their quality of life without compromising the natural resources provided by Mother Earth. The chagra is revealed as a space of cultural resistance, spirituality, ancestral medicine, music, dance, and agriculture. In addition, it is consolidated as an ethno-education axis that guarantees the survival of the Yanakuna people and their food welfare, integrating ancestral knowledge with contemporary practices to strengthen their autonomy and territorial sustainability.

Keywords: Community/Rural/Urban Development; Food Security and Poverty; Land Economics/Use; Research Research Methods/Statistical Methods; Sustainability; Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:veagro:404271

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.404271

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