Introduction
For two decades, the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has assisted farming communities to safeguard traditional agricultural systems and associated landscapes, agricultural biodiversity, knowledge systems and cultures. The GIAHS approach is based on participatory development: it reflects local realities and supports initiatives by farmers, civil society organizations, governments and research institutions to attain sustainable rural development, and has influenced national policies and rural management systems.
This publication provides a snapshot of some of the GIAHS around the world to showcase their achievements in conserving agricultural heritage systems.
WHAT ARE GLOBALLY IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE SYSTEMS (GIAHS)?
GIAHS are the result of the gradual co-evolution of local communities and their environments.
Agricultural communities have developed ingenious systems which optimize the utilization of resources while respecting, safeguarding and protecting them from exploitation. In response to local challenges, communities have developed sustainable farming systems by conserving and using traditional knowledge, biodiversity and landscapes, while supporting their livelihoods and food security.
WHY DO WE NEED GIAHS?
GIAHS represent a pool of knowledge and practices that can provide solutions to current global issues and challenges and also contribute to achieving the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In response to unsustainable agricultural and land use practices that threaten global food security, and the livelihoods and cultural values of rural communities. GIAHS bear witness to people’s inventiveness and ingenuity in using traditional and evolving knowledge, practices and technologies to manage resources, biodiversity and ecosystems, and to counteract advancing socio-environmental and biocultural loss. These systems provide the foundation for contemporary and future agricultural innovations and technologies. Not only do they demonstrate alternative approaches to modern systems but they also conserve the enormous diversity in global communities, cultures, histories and traditions.
These systems provide the foundation for contemporary and future agricultural innovations and technologies. Not only do they demonstrate alternative approaches to modern systems but they also conserve the enormous diversity in global communities, cultures, histories and traditions.
Bird’s-eye view of the Ramli agricultural system in the lagoons of Ghar El Melh
©PARETO PAYSAGES
THE EVOLUTION OF GIAHS
FAO launched the GIAHS programme at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002 in response to global threats to family farming and traditional agricultural systems, such as climate change, community displacements and biodiversity loss.
Aiming to strike a balance between conservation, sustainable adaptation and socioeconomic development, the programme helps to mitigate the threats faced by farmers while enhancing the benefits of farming systems. Using a multistakeholder approach, GIAHS provides technical assistance, promotes the value of traditional agricultural knowledge and stimulates markets for agricultural products, agrotourism and other market opportunities.
GIAHS is a people-centered approach focusing on knowledge systems, including (the) socio-organizational, economic and cultural features that underpin the conservation and adaptation processes in GIAHS without compromising their resilience, sustainability and integrity.
FAO has designated 67 systems in 22 countries with a further 15 proposals currently being considered. The GIAHS programme has designated systems in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Near East and North Africa.
GIAHS is open to proposals from systems that represent agricultural and cultural heritage values, and which are relevant to global concerns around sustainable development and biocultural diversity, including agrobiodiversity, and ecosystems management.
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Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems
RESOURCES
Background | Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | GIAHS | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (fao.org)
How to make a GIAHS proposal
https://www.fao.org/3/ca8465en/ca8465en.pdf