Agrodiversity and the MMSEA Network
This project aims to improve the understanding of the experience and the resilience of ethnic cultures in adapting to change.
Agrodiversity - encompassing biophysical, agro-biological, management and organizational diversity - aids rural communities in enhancing resilience and developing innovative strategies to adapt to climate and ecosystem changes.
Terraced rice fields of Yunnan, China. Photo: UNU-ISP
The Agrodiversity Project aims to improve the understanding of the community resilience - how and why local communities have managed and adapted to the indigenous systems in response to global changes. The Project looks at on-the-ground realities to identify alternative ways of enhancing the coping capacity of ethnic communities and developing policy that impacts the diversified land use systems of the marginal regions. Alternative livelihoods are expected to drive and expand the options and opportunities available to meet the specific needs, challenges, and constraints of the marginalized areas and agrarian communities, which are facing global challenges as they seek to live in harmony with nature and to maintain bio-cultural diversity.
The mountainous regions of mainland Southeast Asia (MMSEA) refers to the adjoining areas between Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Southwest China, extending into Northeastern India. While MMSEA has been home to diverse ethnic minority cultures over many centuries, it also serves as the watersheds of the main rivers in the region, including the Mekong, the Red River, and the Salween. These factors have led to the region in becoming a key global area of rich bio-cultural diversity, making it a world-class biodiversity hotspot. The mountainous region of mainland Southeast Asia (MMSEA)In adapting to the ecological complexity, a variety of traditional land use systems have been developed in MMSEA, including: shifting cultivation; valley and terrace sedentary cultivation; horticulture; agroforestry; agro-pastoral; and forestry systems. These land use systems have been integrated to be compatible with the diversity of the mountain geography and are well-suited for the different land use systems for resilience. The diversified land use systems have been developed and propelled by local communities and sustained by traditional knowledge, local practices and innovations.
Knowledge Gap
UNU-ISP has implemented field-based research in collaboration with universities, research institutions and agriculture stakeholders within the MMSEA framework in Thailand, Laos, China, and India. This has led to the apt conclusion that “Nothing better demonstrates expertise than the local farmers’ actual experience based on years’ worth of observing their land and deepening their understanding of the environment.” Another lesson learned is that “there are knowledge gaps involving sustainable land use systems among local communities, scientists, policy makers, and other stakeholders.
The traditional knowledge and local practice have rarely been scientifically and systematically assessed, meaning this invaluable information has have never been systematically organized; shared via a comprehensive database; or documented and analyzed.” Building and disseminating a systematized knowledge base of traditional practices is beneficial for spreading this practical knowledge from one site to the next; thereby enabling knowledge sharing and application on a trans-community and trans-regional basis. This is another example of our approach to build South-South cooperation between farmers beyond regions and across countries. Based on this tenet, while building on the PLEC experience, UNU-ISP has established a research network of national partners in the MMSEA region to address this knowledge gap.
With the increasing local and global interactions as well as accessibility improvement, the indigenous land management systems are increasingly challenged by the external forces of globalization in the face of unprecedented global environmental changes. Accordingly, there is another considerable knowledge gap in understanding and enhancing the resilience of these ethnic minority cultures of MMSEA. The acclimatization of "traditional" social-ecological systems in light of these modern challenges is inevitable. It is imperative to not only preserve and promote lessons learned and practices perfected in the past, but also to develop innovative ways supported by scientific justification in meeting the new challenges arising from global changes. Sustainable development requires the customization of global knowledge to serve local challenges and vice versa, the provision of alternative livelihoods, and the revival of traditional practices, inter-cultural exchange and cross-fertilization in order to work toward harmonious co-existence among different cultures at the regional level.
