(AGENPARL) – Mon 27 October 2025 FAO Media s[Graphical user interface, text Description automatically generated]
FAO celebrates 28 Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems in 14 countries
Rome, Italy – Friday, 31 October 2025 | 10:00–17:00 CEST | Sheikh Zayed Centre, FAO Headquarters
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will host the 2025 Award Ceremony of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) on Friday, 31 October, at FAO headquarters in Rome.
Held in the framework of FAO’s 80th Anniversary and ahead of COP30, the event will celebrate 28 agricultural heritage systems in 14 countries that have been officially designated as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) over the past two years. These sites illustrate how traditional knowledge, agrobiodiversity and innovation can strengthen food security and climate resilience. With their inclusion, the global total now stands at 102 systems worldwide.
The ceremony will be opened by a message from FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.
High-level representatives from governments and local authorities around the world will participate, including Guillem Casal Font, Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock and Government Spokesperson of Andorra; Hakimzoda Qurbon, Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Tajikistan; and Nilton Garrido de Sousa Pontes, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of São Tomé and Príncipe.
Also attending will be Luciana Rafagnin, State Deputy of Paraná, Brazil; Ana Lilia Rivera Rivera, Senator of the Republic of Mexico representing Tlaxcala; Daniele Milano, Mayor of Amalfi, Italy; and Oswaldo Betancort García, President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Spain.
The ceremony will feature the “Talk Show – Voices from Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems”, moderated by Piedad Martín, Deputy Director of OCB. The session will bring together GIAHS community representatives from Brazil, Ecuador, the Republic of Korea, Italy, Tanzania and Tunisia – including a Maasai pastoralist leader, an Indigenous woman farmer from Cotacachi, and a female haenyeo diver from Jeju Island. Through their stories, they will showcase how agricultural heritage serves as a living laboratory for sustainability, where innovation and traditional knowledge go hand in hand to protect biodiversity, strengthen food security and preserve cultural identity.
An exhibition of products, images and stories from agricultural heritage systems around the world will accompany the ceremony in the FAO Atrium. Some exhibits from GIAHS sites around the world will also be displayed in the new Food and Agriculture Museum and Network – FAO MuNe, in the area “Tradition and Innovation,” offering visitors a glance of all 102 designated systems.
The event will be livestreamed on FAO webcast.
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The event will be livestreamed on FAO webcast.
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RESOURCES FOR THE MEDIA
Event webpage
GIAHS YouTube playlist
FAO-GIAHS Digital Media Hub
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