In partnership with the Association of Ecological Farmers of Saint Francis of Assis (Associação dos Grupos de Agricultores Ecológicos São Francisco de Assis) and the municipality of Rio Azul, on April 14, CEDErva conducted the 1st Regional GIAHS Workshop for the project entitled “Traditional and Agroecological Erva-mate Systems in the Araucaria Forest, Brazil”, in Arroio Grande, municipality of Irati, Paraná, Brazil. The workshop aimed to promote and share collective knowledge and action among the community of practice around traditional erva-mate systems, which is made up of farming families registered as part of the GIAHS project, a team of technicians, and research and extension institutions.
The GIAHS project was developed within the framework of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) program of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN. The project is seeking to gain this international recognition from the FAO, and its candidacy has been submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture, Brazil, for initial evaluation. GIAHS are exemplary models of agricultural systems that combine sustainable production with the maintenance of traditional agricultural knowledge, social organization, food security, as well as helping to preserve culture, history and agrobiodiversity (see https://www.fao.org/giahs/en/).
The Workshop
The workshop began with a presentation by Evelyn Nimmo, CEDErva, and André Lacerda, Embrapa Florestas, outlining the projects being developed by the Strategic Council for Traditional and Agroecological Erva-mate Systems (Observatório dos Sistemas Tradicionais e Agroecológiocs de Erva-mate), which have led to and informed the candidacy for recognition as a GIAHS. The GIAHS project was launched in 2021, and brings together more than 20 institutions, such as family farmers’ unions, regional municipal governments, government research and extension institutions, universities, and civil society organizations.
The 1st Regional GIAHS Workshop also sought to discuss the actions and opportunities to be developed by the project in the coming years, considering that in the development of an application for recognition as a GIAHS, a long-term program called a Dynamic Conservation Action Plan is developed, which aims to support the continuation of these systems and increase the global, national and local benefits derived from their dynamic conservation and sustainable management. In dialogue with the participants, the team was able to identify the demands and challenges of farmers regarding the maintenance of traditional erva-mate systems, as well as their questions regarding the GIAHS project.
In the afternoon, participants visited the properties of two of the local project partners, Antônio Barbosa and João de Paula, where participants were able to exchange experiences and share knowledge about traditional and agroecological erva-mate systems.
To learn more about the GIAHS application, click here.
Fotos: Brenda Rotter /Equipe CEDErva .