The 4th anniversary symposium of the Nishi-Awa Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) site: Learning from “United Nations Decade of Family Farming”

In 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization designated the Nishi-Awa steep-slope agricultural system as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) site. In the symposium commemorating the 4th anniversary of the event, we plan to focus on family farming, which plays an important role in ensuring food security and eradicating poverty and hunger at the global scale. To support the United Nations Decade of Family Farming, we aim to promote activities that can preserve and contribute to small-scale farming in the Nishi-Awa region.

In addition, local students will report on their “Kikigaki”(which translates to “listening” and “writing”) research on the lives of farmers, and agricultural heritage-related initiatives will be presented to discuss the future of the Nishi-Awa area and its evolution toward sustainability.

Due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, this symposium will be recorded and edited for cable TV and YouTube transmission.

Title:	The 4th anniversary symposium of the Nishi-Awa Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) site: Learning from “United Nations Decade of Family Farming”
Date:	March 25, 2022
Sponsor:	Tokushima Tsurugisan Global Agricultural Heritage Promotion Council Secretariat

Program

• Opening remarks
• Keynote speakers:
  Mr. Yoshihide Endo [GIAHS Coordinator at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)] and Professor SEKINE Kaho (Associate Professor at the Aichi Gakuin University)
• Case report
  Case report ①: Students from Ikeda High School
  Case report ②: Students from Ikeda High School, Tuji Branch
  Case report ③: Students from Turugi High school
  Case report ④: Students from Wakimachi High school
  Case report ⑤: Maho Kitano (Tokushima University)
  Case report ⑥: Nozomi Iwao (Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University)
• Certification ceremony of “Nishi-Awa Nou to Shoku no Meijin” (Food and Agriculture Experts in Nishi-Awa)

Projects related to Nishi Awa GIAHS are collaborative effort between Mima City, Miyoshi City, Tsurugi Town, and Higashimiyoshi Town.