Forgotten Agricultural Heritage Reconnecting food systems and sustainable development Earthscan Food and Agriculture Series

Contemporary agriculture is often criticized for its industrial scale, adverse effects on nutrition, rural employment and the environment, and its disconnectedness from nature and culture. Yet there are many examples of traditional smaller scale systems that have survived the test of time and provide more sustainable solutions while still maintaining food security in an era of climate change. This book provides a unique compilation of this forgotten agricultural heritage and is based on objective scientific evaluation and evidence of the value of these systems for present and future generations.

The authors refer to many of these systems as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) and show how they are related to the concepts of heritage and the World Heritage Convention. They demonstrate how GIAHS based on family farms, traditional indigenous knowledge and agroecological principles can contribute to food and nutrition security and the maintenance of agro-biodiversity and environmental resilience, as well as sustain local cultures, economies and societies.

Two substantial chapters are devoted to descriptions and assessments of some 50 examples of designated and potential GIAHS from around the world, including rice-fish culture in China, mountain terrace systems in Asia, coffee agroforestry in Latin America, irrigation systems and land and water management in Iran and India, pastoralism in East Africa, and the dehesa agrosilvopastoral system of Spain and Portugal. The book concludes by providing policy and technical solutions for sustainable agriculture and rural development through the enhancement of these systems.

Foreword José Graziano da Silva Foreword M.S. Swaminathan 1. Past, Present and the Future of Agriculture 2. Agricultural Heritage and Sustainable Food Systems 3. A View to Protecting and Safeguarding our Heritage 4. Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems: Concept and the Initiative 5. Dynamic Conservation of GIAHS 6. Lessons Learned, Experiences and Impacts 7. GIAHS are Around Us: Sites and Systems of Interest 8. Final Reflection and Key Messages

Parviz Koohafkan is Chairman of the World Agricultural Heritage Foundation (WAHF) and Senior Honorary Research Fellow at Bioversity International, Rome, Italy. He retired as Director of the Land and Water Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, in 2012, where he conceptualized and spearheaded the GIAHS concept and Partnership Initiative.

Miguel Altieri is Professor of Agroecology in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.