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Human Capacity Building for Sustainable Development of Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines and Noto's Satoyama Satomi in Japan


The Ifugao Rice Terraces (IRT) has been designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). It is, however, under serious environmental and social threat due to the lack of young farmers, predominance of unregulated tourism activities, and the negative impacts of climate change. This has resulted in the deterioration of ecosystem services, including agricultural production, biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and culture. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop the local human resources for sustainable develpment of IRT. The Satoyama Meister Training Program of Kanazawa University has succeeded in the capacity building of young people for the reactivation of the GIAHS designated Satoyama and Satoumi in Noto Peninsula of Japan, which also has been challenged by decreasing and aging population and the negative effects of climate change. The Ifugao Satoyama Meister Training Project (2013-2016) aims to share and impart the knowhow of the Noto Satoyama Meister Training Program to IRT. It recounts the experiences of Noto GIAHS, which have been successful in developing human resources that have imbibed the concepts of GIAHS and Satoyama for the revitalization of the local communities. This paper presents the current conditions and problems of the IRT. It outlines and discusses the joint collaboration of Kanazawa University with Philippine counterparts, i. e., Ifugao State University (IFSU), University of the Philippines-Open University (UPOU), and Ifugao Provincial Government, under the framework of the Technical Cooperation for Grassroots Projects of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).


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