Parviz Koohafkan, World Agricultural Heritage Foundation

1. Innovative Policies and Tools for
Dynamic Conservation of Agricultural
Heritage Systems
PARVIZ KOOHAFKAN, President & Founder
World Agricultural Heritage Foundation

2. 2
Current Food System
• Over 7 billion people more than half of them in the
cities
• Near1 billion have too little to eat
• 1.6 billion eat too much
• Wasting > 30% of food

3. China
more meat, oil in diet
overweight 25.4%
obesity in some cities: 20.0%
Thailand
overweight: 32.3%
obesity: 8.8%
Japan
obesity: 20%*
3x increase (1962-2002)
USA
overweight: 70.8
obesity: 33.0
UK
overweight: 64.2
obesity: 26.9
(WHO)
Public Health
non-communicable diseases
Tunisia
Overweight:32%
higher in Women

4. addressing Poverty
food security, health and
nutrition problems
While
Sustaining Natural
Resources Base and
facing C.C.
A Paradigm Shift in Agricultural
Development and Food Policies
The Challenges Ahead Require:

5. Bringing together
o Ecosystem Diversity
o Socio-economic Diversity
o Cultural Diversity
o Culinary Diversity
o Curative Diversity

6. Linking Global …….. to local
and local …… to global

7. Bringing
Culture in
Agri-Culture
Culture is:
Standing on
the shoulders
of ancestors

8. Investing in All Assets of Rural Systems
(livelihoods, communities, economies)
Financial Capital:
money, savings
Natural Capital:
nature’s goods and services
(waste assimilation, pollination, storm
protection, water supply, wildlife)
Social Capital:
cohesiveness of people
and societies -
trust, reciprocity,
rules and norms,
networks and institutions
Physical Capital:
Infrastructure, roads
markets
Human Capital:
the status of individuals -
health, skills, knowledge

9. Empowering women and Working with local
communities

10. Saving Unique Agricultural Heritage Systems at risk

11. China Rice Fish system
Intensification
without Simplification

12. ! They are more than 1.4 billion
! They are the poorest of the world’s poor
! They are the victims of globalisation, climate change and
expansion of industrial agriculture
! They are living in marginal lands and environments that are
prone to floods, drought, storms and other environmental
disasters
• Produce more than 70% of the global food
• They are the largest number of stewards of the environment
and its ecosystem services including biodiversity,
Higher and sustainable productivity increase at
their level will have a major impact on poverty
reduction, economic growth and climate change
mitigation and adaptation
Turning challenges to opportunities:
The Small holders and family farmers

13. Dynamic
Conservation
of
GLOBALLY
IMPORTANT
AGRICULTURAL
HERITAGE
SYSTEMS
GIAHS

14. GIAHS CRITERIA
" Food and livelihood security
" Biodiversity and genetic resources
" Indigenous and Local knowledge of
individuals and community
" Cultural Diversity of Agri-“Culture”
including product and service diversity
" Landscape diversity and aesthetic values

15. Ifugao Rice Terraces, Philippines

16. Oases of the Maghreb

17. Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia

18. Satoyama systems Japan

19. 36 Sites Recognised by FAO in 15
Countries

20. Many others waiting the recognition

21. # Promotes public understanding,
awareness, national and
international recognition and
support to safeguard the
Agricultural Heritage as
benchmarks of sustainability
# Piloting innovative model for
engaging communities, local and
national governments in the
adaptive management of
agricultural systems
# Bringing back the culture and
identity of the local communities
The GIAHS Dynamic Conservation

22. How?
! At Global level
by identification, selection and recognition of GIAHS and
their communities
! At National level
by capacity building in policy, regulatory and incentive
mechanisms to safeguard these outstanding systems and
use them as sustainability bench mark systems
! At Local Level
by empowerment of local communities and technical
assistance, promoting traditional knowledge and
enhancing viability of these systems through economic
incentives (labelling, PES, Agro-Tourism, etc..)

23. $ Dynamic conservation
approaches
NIAHS Policy

24. Food labeling and niche market in China
GIAHS sets up a new win-win model

25. “Underpinning the Resiliency of
Agricultural Heritage Systems
and Rewarding Small Holders,
Family Farmers and Indigenous
Communities for their Dynamic
Conservation”
Specific focus

26. Resiliency Comparason between GIAHS
Agro-ecological and Conventional Farming

27. Geo-referencing and Geo-tagging
Farmers’ Heritage

28. GIAHS is not about the past but
about the future
Thank You