India hosts three Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)

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Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)

GIAHS are outstanding agricultural landscapes with remarkable agrobiodiversity, traditional knowledge, invaluable cultures, and beautiful landscapes, managed by small-scale farmers to provide food and livelihoods. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the GIAHS Programme in 2002 to conserve these unique systems under threat from factors like climate change and low economic viability.

Administering body and origin

• The GIAHS programme was initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
• It was launched in 2002 during the World Summit for Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Primary objectives

The initiative focuses on dynamic conservation, not on replacing traditional methods with modern technology for higher productivity. Key goals include:

• Identification and safeguarding: Recognizing and protecting unique agricultural systems and their associated landscapes, biodiversity, and knowledge systems.
• Mitigating threats: Addressing challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and rural-to-urban migration that threaten these systems.
• Socioeconomic development: Enhancing the livelihoods and well-being of the local communities, including family farmers and Indigenous Peoples.
• Preserving traditional knowledge: Ensuring the conservation and transmission of ancestral farming techniques across generations.

Defining criteria

To be designated as a GIAHS site, an area must fulfill five core criteria:

• Food and livelihood security: The system must contribute to the food and economic security of local communities.
• Agro-biodiversity: It should possess globally significant biodiversity and genetic resources for food and agriculture.
• Local and traditional knowledge systems: The site must maintain invaluable traditional knowledge and adaptive technologies.
• Cultures, value systems, and social organisations: The system should exhibit a strong link with the cultural identity, values, and social structures of the community.
• Landscapes and seascapes features: It must display aesthetic landscapes or seascapes shaped by the long-term interaction between humans and their environment.

GIAHS sites in India

As of 2025, India has three recognised GIAHS sites:

1. Koraput Traditional Agriculture, Odisha: A highland plateau known for subsistence paddy cultivation, a repository of rice landraces, and the conservation of medicinal plants by tribal communities.
2. Kuttanad Below Sea-Level Farming System, Kerala: A unique system of rice cultivation in below-sea-level fields, combining wetlands for paddy, garden lands for coconuts, and inland water bodies for fishing.
3. Pampore Saffron Heritage, Jammu & Kashmir: An agro-pastoral system characterised by traditional saffron cultivation, intercropping, and organic practices, deeply rooted in the local culture.

GIAHS versus GI Tag

It is crucial for the Prelims exam to distinguish GIAHS from a Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

• GIAHS status is for the entire agricultural system, recognizing its ecological, cultural, and landscape importance. It is a programme for conservation and sustainable management.
• GI tag is a legal recognition given to a specific product that originates from a definite geographical area and has a special quality or reputation linked to that origin.