Bangladesh’s farming system get global recognition

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has recognised Bangladesh’s floating gardens, a unique hydroponics production system constructed with natural grasses and plants, as ‘Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)’, BSS reports.

The UN body also designated a trio of sites in Japan. These are: the sustainable river fisheries utilizing Sato-kawa system in Gifu, the Minabe-Tanabe Ume approach to growing apricots on nutrient-poor slopes in Wakayama and the Takachihogo-Shiibayama mountainous agriculture and forestry system in Miyazaki which allows agricultural and forestry production in a steep mountainous area.

The sites were officially recognized during a joint meeting of the GIAHS Steering and Scientific Committee at FAO headquarters in Rome on December 15, according to a message received here on Saturday.

These new designations bring the number of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) to a total of 36 sites located in 15 countries in Africa, Latin America, Near East and Asia.

‘In the context of today’s environmental and economic challenges and climate change, small-scale and family farmers, and especially traditional agriculture, can offer real solutions for food security, the conservation of natural resources and sustainable rural development, if adequate policies and investment are directed to them’, said FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo.

The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) which was launched by FAO in 2002 during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, has been recently endorsed by member countries, during the 39th Session of the FAO Conference, as an FAO Corporate Programme.