Deforestation, Rainfall Patterns, & Indigenous Diets
Deforestation & Rainfall Patterns Affecting the Diets of Indigenous Peoples – ABSTRACT
When indigenous diets are altered there are both health and cultural implications.
Changes in diet can lead to nutritional deficiences and increased susceptibility to disease. The foods that tribes eat are not only based on region, but also on cultural heritage. While some groups may go on to adapt, others may find new locations do not fit their nutritional or cultural needs. Therefore, this study can be used to inform policymakers on the effects deforestation on not only climate change, but the peoples of certain regions.
Deforestation is a causal agent of climate change, accounting for 20% of carbon dioxide emissions – a known greenhouse gas. Looking at the Turkana and Maasai tribes in Kenya and the Kamayurá tribe of the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil, we will study how deforestation removes nutrients from the soil, changes rainfall patterns and affects agriculture. By studying these regions we will look at how food procurement strategies are increasingly affected by climate change and how this influences traditional tribal diets. Using soil analysis, literature on nutritional deficiences and diseases, as well as charts of rainfall patterns, we will combine this information to form an analysis on the effects of deforestation and climate change, on indigenous diets.
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