We often talk about the future of food, but what about its history? In our day to day lives, we might not realize that some of our staple foods have come from extraordinary agricultural traditions that are deeply rooted in our cultures and identity.
Food production has evolved and improved dramatically over time. Yet, some of the ancient ways of producing crops have a lot to teach us about protecting the environment, being sustainable and adapting to climate change. Conservation of natural resources, sustainable agriculture and agroecology are not only techniques for preserving what the earth has given us, they are also ways of conceptualizing how humans interact with nature. There are communities around the world that have always thought this way, using their land and planning their agricultural activities accordingly.
FAO’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems programme seeks to recognize and preserve these traditions that combine agriculture and heritage, sustainability and livelihoods, environmental sensitivity and adaptation to climate change. Currently, there are 50 designated sites in 20 countries around the world. Five of these have been nominated in 2018, including the first sites in Europe.
Here are three foods with fascinating histories that the programme is helping to conserve:
1. Rice
Rice is a hugely important crop for many countries in the world. It is the primary staple for more than half the world’s population, Asia being the largest rice producing and consuming region. However, in recent years, rice has also become an important staple throughout Africa. It makes sense then that such an important part of people’s diets and lives has a rich history and culture.
In China alone, there are 5 different rice production sites that FAO has recognized as important agricultural heritage systems. One of these systems are the Hani Rice Terraces. In the Yunnan province of China, the Hani people have been living and working on the land for over 1 300 years.
They have built amazing terraces, covering 70 000 hectares of land, on steep mountainsides and have done so without any water reservoirs. The Hani people utilize and manage local water resources in an innovative and efficient manner. Terraces are not only an agricultural tradition, they are a sustainable and innovative way of farming difficult landscapes.
Rice terraces exist in many countries worldwide and two other countries also have ones recognized as agricultural heritage systems: The Gudeuljang Irrigated Rice Terraces in Cheongsando, Korea and the Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines.