Globally Important

Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)

The status of GIAHS and way forward

For a long period of time, communities of farmers

and herders have developed locally adapted

ingenious agricultural systems that have led to

food and livelihood security as well as the

maintenance of natural and cultural diversity.

1

• Food and livelihood security

• Agro-biodiversity

• Resilient ecosystem

• Resource management

• Landscape

• Cultural heritage

Increase food

production by

60% until 2050

in a sustainable

way

Poverty

reduction

Climate Change

Adaptation

Resilience of

society

Well-being of

people

Managed by 1.4 billion people, mostly family farmers and indigenous communities, and produce between 30-50% of the domestic food consumed in the developing world

Conserve/shared thousands of cultivated species

2

However these systems are threatened by

Population pressure and cultural change

Neglect of diversified systems and local

knowledge under modernization

Low community involvement in decision-making

Inappropriate policy, legal and incentive

frameworks

3

GIAHS Partnership Initiative

Was conceptualized and launched by FAO

in 2002 at the occasion of World Summit

on Sustainable Development in

Johannesburg South Africa

4

In order to provide systematic support to the conservation and

adaptive management of agricultural heritage systems, the GIAHS

Initiative promotes intervention strategies at three distinct levels: Global level

Facilitating international recognition of the concept of GIAHS

National level

Mainstreaming of the GIAHS concept in national sectoral and

inter-sectoral plans and policies (regulatory and incentive

mechanisms) and using them as sustainability benchmark

systems Local level

Empowerment of local communities and technical assistance

for sustainable resource management, promoting traditional

knowledge and enhancing viability of these systems through

economic incentives

Strategy and Approach

5

Designated sites

1 Chiloé Agriculture (Chile) 12 Sado’s Satoyama in harmony with Crested Ibis

（Japan）

20 Managing Aso Grasslands for Sustainable Agriculture(Japan）

2 Andean Agriculture (Peru) 13 Dong’s Rice Fish Duck System (China） 21 Chagusaba System (Japan）

3 Ifugao Rice Terraces (Philippines) 14 Hani Rice Terraces(China） 22 Kunisaki Integrated Forestry, Agriculture and Fisheries System

(Japan）

4 Rice-fish Culture (China) 15 Wannian Traditional Rice Culture (China） 23 Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya (China）

5,6,7 Oases of the Maghreb Region (Tunisia, Algeria,

Morocco)

16 Aohan Dryland Farming System (China） 24 Xuanhua Traditional Vineyard System (China）

8.9 Maasai Pastoral Heritage (Kenya, Tanzania) 17 Pu’er Traditional Tea Agrosystem (China) 25 Kuttanad Below Sea Level Farming System (India）

10 Upland Agro-Forestry Syste（Tanzania） 18 Saffron Heritage of Kashmir (India）

11 Noto’s Satoyama and Satoumi (Japan) 19 Traditional Agricultural Systems, Koraput (India） 6

Projects and implementing countries Project/Fund Implementing countries

GEF Algeria, China, Chile, Peru, Philippines, Tunisia

Germany Kenya, Tanzania

IFAD Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia

Turkey Azerbaijan, Turkey

TCP Ecuador etc.

Self-fund India, Japan, Korea etc.

Pipeline projects, Regional

Rice Initiative, etc.

Morocco, Philippines etc.

Japan Oman, UAE etc.

Others (China South-South

cooperation, JICA)

South-South cooperation, Twinning

7

Success story 1: Rice-fish culture in China

8

Ministry of Agriculture have adopted and

implemented the National Important

Agricultural Heritage Systems (NIAHS).

(Overwhelming NIAHS applications were

received from 43 prefectures/counties.)

After the designation in 2005,

• rice with GIAHS label sells 60% higher than

similar rice with no label

• the number of tourists increased by 100% in

2008.

Model calculation by Liu et al in 2010 shows

that rice-fish agriculture

• increases net income per ha by 30%

• reduces the fertilizer application per ha by

60%

• increases the ecological service value per ha

by 100%

compared with rice mono-cropping agriculture.

Success story 2: Ifugao rice terrace in the Philippines

9

Hectares of land managed are maintained

(68,416ha)

Formulation of a national system for the

recognition of agricultural heritage sites and

support for their dynamic conservation.

Crop diversification through the integrated

rice farming system in the site

Hazard mitigation (Manage/Control of

earthworm damage, repair/rehabilitation of

damaged terraces and irrigation channels,

etc.)

Success story 3: Ghout system Algeria

10

Upscale of the system: 50ha are newly

reclaimed

Five new farmer associations were

established, with 19 percent of its members

being women

Young farmers’ engagement have increased

from 2 percent in 2010 to 23 percent shown

by the most recent statistics.

Success story 4: Massai Pastral system

11

Levels of biodiversity and wildlife have been

maintained through implementing action

plans.

Development of a Community Based

Organization for land management.

- The introduction of animal health

technologies (vaccination)

- Restocking of cattle which was lost in the

face of frequent draughts

- Cleaning of invasive bush species

- Rehabilitation and construction of dams

Development of jewelry and handcraft for

women

Construction of a “cultural boma / Museum”

to share lessons learned

Success story 5: Shimbwe Juu Kihamba Agro-

forestry Heritage Site

12

Levels of biodiversity and wildlife have been

maintained through implementing action

plans.

Abandoned farms have been reclaimed

under farm management that encourages

biodiversity (15 acres).

Transition to organic coffee and introduction

of vanilla in order to explore new market and

to improve farmers’ income

Rehabilitation of furrow system for irrigation

Use the lessons learned and achievements

in the GEF pilot countries (best practices,

success stories, barriers, gaps) for further

development of the GIAHS Initiative,

Explore commitment from partners

Objectives of this meeting

13

Developments since 2013 (1/4)

The GIAHS International Forum 2013, held in Noto

Peninsula, Japan

Adoption of the GIAHS Noto Communique

GIAHS Noto Communique

The recommendations:

1. the progressive designation of further GIAHS sites to promote the

conservation of agricultural heritage and its contributions towards global

food security and economic development

2. promotion of on-the-ground projects and activities, particularly in

developing countries

3. the existing GIAHS to support the recognition of candidatures of GIAHS

areas in less developed countries

4. promote the twinning of GIAHS sites between developed and developing

countries. 14

Developments since 2013 (2/4) GIAHS is up-scaling…. And outscaling….

- Two Korean sites were designated.

- Three Chinese sites and one Iranian site will be screened at this

meeting. Other candidate sites will also make presentations.

- National orientation workshop was held in such countries as UAE,

Oman, Indonesia, Ethiopia.

Regional Orientation Workshop for Asia and the Pacific was

held by FAORAP in November 2013

- More than 50 delegates from 18 countries participated.

- A set of recommendations was identified and discussed.

- After the workshop, Thailand and Mongolia are starting to identify

GIAHS.

15

The recommendations on future development of GIAHS in Asia and the Pacific:

1. Institutional System of GIAHS and Sceretatiat

2. Consultation/Advisory Service Mechanism 3. National GIAHS mechanism

4. South-South Cooperation – Twinnig

5. Resources (formulation & implementation) 6. Regional Networking

Developments since 2013 (3/4) FAORLC has constitutes a GIAHS Regional Steering

Committee and will hold International Expert Seminar “Culture

Diversity, Food Sovereignty and Traditional Livelihoods”

Twinning, South-South cooperation are on-going

1st Conference of East Asia Research Association for

Agricultural Heritage Systems (ERAHS) April 2014

- 200 political leaders, national/local governmental officials,

researchers from China, Korea and Japan attended the meeting

to promote research cooperation of agricultural heritage systems.

16

Developments since 2013 (4/4) Strengthening collaboration with CBD and UNESCO

- GIAHS contribution to regional capacity building workshop for

Africa held by CBD (Nairobi, Kenya in March 2014)

- GIAHS contribution to 1st European Conference for the

Implementation of the UNESCO-SCBD Joint Programme on

Biological and Cultural Diversity (Florence, Italy in April 2014)

- COP 12 (Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, October 2014)

- Man and the Biosphere Programme

Strengthening collaboration with Treaty (ITPGRFA)

- Collaboration through Benefit Sharing Fund in Tunisia and in

Third Call of BSF and promoting plant in-situ conservation

Strengthening collaboration with ISESCO, ICCROM, IUFRO

etc.

17

FAO launched the new Strategic Objectives in order

to address the most pressing issues in the world,

eradication of hunger, poverty reduction and

realization of sustainable agriculture. GIAHS

Initiative contributes to the achievement of these

objectives and perfectly fit to our work in FAO.

Strategic Objective 2 (SO2)

“Increase and improve provision of goods and services from

agriculture, forestry and fisheries in a sustainable manner”.

It also contributes to other Strategic Objectives such as eradication

of hunger (SO1), reduction of rural poverty (SO3) and so on.

FAO mandate

18

Conference Resolution on GIAHS

FAO started discussion in order to formally endorse the

operational framework of GIAHS through a resolution of

the FAO Conference.

This will provide GIAHS with formal status within FAO

framework.

The 97th CCLM (Committee on Constitutional and Legal

Matters) endorsed the initiation of the process. Followed by the 148th Council Session.

19

Sequence of Review

- September 2014

- November 2014

- February 2015

- March 2015

- June 2015

Session of the Committee on Agriculture

Session of the Joint Meeting of the Programme

and Finance Committees

Session of the CCLM

Session of the Council

Session of the Conference

Inter-departmental task force

1st Inter-departmental task force meeting in February - Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department (AG), Forestry

Department (FO), Fisheries and Aquaculture Department (FI), Economic

and Social Development Department (ES), FAORLC, FAORAP and

Natural Resources Department (NR) etc.

Objectives

- Input/contribution from different technical units

- Knowledge sharing (social, economic, environmental

analysis etc.)

- Bottom-up approach from Regions/Countries

20

Enhance the GIAHS programme through

-interaction with multiple sectors

-collaboration with regions

Objectives of this meeting

Broaden the GIAHS programme with new

approaches such as twinning, South-South

cooperation,

Strengthen the base of the GIAHS

programme through

Monitoring/Evaluation modalities

21

• Provide GIAHS with a formal status in FAO through a

Conference Resolution • Increase the number of sites through umbrella programme - New global project, national project, South-South corporation, twining of

sites and assistance to self-finance sites

• Strengthen coordination capacity - Multidisciplinary approach, Socio-economic analysis of GIAHS,

communication

• Collaboration with Forestry, Fisheries, other technical units and

regions - Establishment of Inter-departmental task force • Active collaboration among sites

- Promoting the twinning of GIAHS sites between developed and

developing countries declared in ‘Noto Communique’ • Innovative partnership: Collaboration with donors, other

international instruments and programme - New participating countries, UNESCO, CBD, ICCROM, ITPGRFA, Slow

Food, International Year of Family Farming etc.

Future development

22

Future development (GIAHS Umbrella Programme)

23

Participating countries Algeria, Chile, China, India, Japan, Kenya, Korea,

Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey,

Oman, UAE, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Azerbaijan,

Colombia, Thailand, Mongolia, Iran, Bangladesh, Bolivia,

Guatemala, Uruguay, Cuba, etc.

UN and other International Partners GEF, BMLEV, IFAD, ITPGRFA, UNESCO, CBD, CGIAR,

ICCROM, IUCN, UNCCD, UNEP, UNU, ISESCO, IAM,

University of California at Berkeley, University of Kent,

University of Tuscia, Wageningen International, Roman

Forum, Via Campensina, The Christensen Fund,

Agrobiodiversity Platform, etc.

Strengthened Partnerships

24

Enhance the collaboration

Bottom-up approach

Multi-disciplinary

approach

•Regional office

coordination

•CPF

(Multi-technical unit)

* The Country Programming Framework (CPF) is a tool used by FAO to define assistance needs of member countries. In China, Peru, Kenya etc., GIAHS is described in their CPF.

Enhance FAO Comparative Advantage

Formal status

Expand joining area

Strengthen connectivity

25

Objectives of this meeting

Based on the experience of the current

projects, an increase of GIAHS sites, and

FAO Initiative to strengthen the GIAHS

programme, how to create innovative

partnerships and expand collaborations to

enhance the GIAHS Initiative in the future

26

Thank You!