This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 18, 2024 - March 24, 2024

The Covid-19 pandemic and other geopolitical factors have caused disruptions in local, regional, national and global food supply chains, prompting us to focus on traditional farming systems. These are the products of ingenious combinations of knowledge, techniques and practices that contribute to community livelihoods and food security, as well as preserve cultural identity and local agrobiodiversity.

They are diverse, complex and adaptive responses to changing environments, extreme climate conditions and a myriad of other changes (political, social and technological contexts) to reduce dependence on imported foods.

Farmers in Malaysia, especially indigenous people in remote forest areas, have long practised traditional farming to maintain food security, cultural heritage, native crop varieties, social ties and spur local economic growth. However, large-scale commercial crops like rubber and oil palm and land use changes threaten traditional farming practices, which negatively impact self-reliance on food and local agrobiodiversity.

According to Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi), almost 90% of crop varieties are no longer grown in Malaysia. The country relies more on imported foods to meet local demand. As such, how can Malaysia preserve traditional farming practices to support food production?

The “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)” strategy might be the answer.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) established a worldwide partnership programme in 2002 to identify and protect local traditional agroecosystems, landscapes and cultural heritages to improve farmers’ livelihoods. This strategy is called GIAHS.

The GIAHS effort promotes agroecosystem recognition, conservation, viability and adaptive management through a long-term programme. Since its adoption, the FAO has integrated GIAHS into its corporate frameworks, enabling smooth internal and external collaboration with numerous regulatory authorities.

International declarations and communiqués like the Third APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security and the 2016 G-20 Agriculture Minister Meeting recognised GIAHS. FAO has also designated 74 GIAHS in 24 countries since 2005.

In the Asia-Pacific region, 19 GIAHS sites are in China and 13 in Japan. Systems ingenuity, rich and unique biodiversity, traditional knowledge, landscapes and seascapes, food and livelihood security, cultural values and collective efforts are prerequisites for the GIAHS designation.

We recently visited two GIAHS sites in Takachihogo-Shibayama (Miyazaki prefecture) and Nishi-Awa (Tokushima prefecture) in Japan with funding from the Sumitomo Foundation. Farmers there grow rice, millets, mushrooms, tea and cattle. The landscapes comprise a mosaic of forests, croplands, irrigation networks and cultural sites, all vital to GIAHS.

Shiiba farmers practised swidden agriculture (slash and burn or shifting cultivation) until WWII. After the GIAHS designation, the town administration encouraged them to revive this traditional practice with a rotation period of 20–25 years, which is deeply rooted in their culture.

They reinstated this in their hamlet, held a burning ceremony, broadcasted buckwheat, hosted a feast for attendees and celebrated an annual harvest celebration where they made soba noodles from buckwheat flour in 2022. Even though many people believe that swidden agriculture causes deforestation, but with a longer rotation, it is possible to sustain this practice and conserve forest biodiversity.

The Takachihogo-Shibayama GIAHS site has a well-developed 10km mountainside irrigation system for terraced paddy agriculture. After the establishment of GIAHS, agricultural community leaders formed a cooperative society and developed a mini-hydroelectric (49.9kW) project using water flow from the irrigation canal intake point to 90m down a steep slope.

This power plant added value to GIAHS. School and university students, researchers and others visit to see the success of this project, which made the cooperative’s members proud.

Farmers have limited agricultural land on a 30- to 40-degree mountain slope at Nishi-Awa GIAHS site. For hundreds of years, the community has farmed these steep slopes without terracing. They cultivate small plots with locally designed hand tools that elderly people can utilise. To prevent soil erosion, they cover the field with dry kaya or combine chopped bits of it with soil. Dry materials preserve soil moisture, degrade into organic manure and prevent farm weeds. They grow millets, vegetables and tea for their own sustenance without chemical fertiliser or pesticide.

Through GIAHS, farmers receive material support and technical guidance on improving conventional agricultural techniques, product certification, internet marketing and farm-stay. It boosts the branding of farm products and raises cereal prices three to four times.

Agritourism and local agri-food production helped communities revive their economies. Farmers are encouraged to use local crop varieties, improve collective actions, strengthen social bonds and work with various organisations. However, farmers at GIAHS sites received no financial aid.

Farmers in GIAHS sites practice sustainable and regenerative agriculture, which promotes climate-friendly food production systems by using locally available input, growing a variety of local crops, performing collective action, collaborating with public and private agencies, and preserving local traditional culture.

Recent research finds that forest gardens in Malaysia satisfy many GIAHS prerequisites. These forest gardens have been managed by Orang Asli communities for years, growing trees, fruits and crops for their daily consumption and sale. These forest gardens and associated activities are deeply related to their culture and traditions.

The government may designate these forest gardens and practices as GIAHS. This would empower and inspire indigenous communities to sustainably manage these vital agroecological practices for their socio-economic development.

Tapan Kumar Nath is a professor at the School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences at the University of Nottingham Malaysia

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