OUIK Research Associate Ms. Evonne Yiu was invited to participate as advisor to the 4th FAO-China High Level Training on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) held in China from 10 to 24 Sep 2017. This training course is conducted every year since 2014 under the framework of South-South Cooperation which FAO and the Government of China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support the capacity development of member states in the implementation and management of the GIAHS programme. It aims to promote understanding of GIAHS, train government resource officers and academicians to become national focal points for GIAHS, and capacity building for future GIAHS applications.
Representative from GIAHS designated countries, members of GIAHS Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) such as Prof. Kazuhiko Takeuchi of UNU-IAS and other international experts were invited to share their experiences. Ms. Yiu spoke on UNU’s role in promoting GIAHS, moderated discussions and assisted participants with their understanding on GIAHS throughout the training programme from UNU’s experience in assisting GIAHS applications in East Asia, especially Japan and Korea. The 30 participants from governments and research institutions from 20 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and for the first time Europe, learnt about the value of agricultural heritage and GIAHS conservation through lectures, group discussions and field visits to the Chinese GIAHS and Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (NIAHS). The participants visited GIAHS in Aohan of Inner Mongolia, NIAHS sites of Xiajin of Shandong Province and Longji of Guangxi Province, and participated at the Agriculture International Fair Trade will be organized by Ministry of Agriculture, where they visited the GIAHS pavilion specially established to promote GIAHS experiences.
