Crystal Miriam Kopels

Across the globe, Indigenous communities are facing rapid and destabilizing changes to their food systems. This project investigates the nutrition transition underway among the Hadzabe of northern Tanzania, a foraging population increasingly impacted by ecological degradation, political marginalization, and market expansion. While Hadzabe subsistence has long drawn anthropological interest, few studies have examined these changes from the perspective of Hadzabe women—who have historically provided over half of the community’s daily caloric intake through wild foraged foods. Drawing on pilot data from 2015 and 2019, this study builds upon baseline data to capture dietary change over a 10-year period. We assess dietary composition (via 24-hour recalls and culturally salient questionnaires), household food insecurity, and degree of market integration across four Hadzabe communities—two remote bush camps and two market-proximate villages. Qualitative focus groups with women explore how foraging knowledge, labor, and food access are being reshaped. Anchored in a critical biocultural and resilience framework, this project documents how structural pressures are transforming foodways while illuminating women’s strategies for adaptation. By centering Hadzabe women’s voices, this research offers urgently needed insight into the future of Indigenous food sovereignty, nutrition, and food security in an era of accelerating global change.