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(Con)serving Ifugao GIAHS Food Resources

The Ifugao Rice Terraces is designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) site for its outstanding contribution in the promotion of food security, biodiversity, indigenous knowledge and cultural diversity for sustainable development. This is the result of the Ifugaos tenacity in sustaining the terraces for over hundreds of years as the reflective definition of their culture in the midst of civilization evolution. It then defines their continuous quest in achieving food security and or sustainability. With this, it compels them to interminably hold the external demand of resources for its accessibility from tilling to table. It as well binds the potential to stabilize its communities as it promotes local values passed from generation to generation. This values covers agricultural and forestry systems, community development and food as the motive for living.

On September 25, 2020, the GIAHS Center of Ifugao State University held a documentation of Ifugao indigenous cuisines to be produced as an e-learning material. Since the educational system shifted to virtual learning due to the pandemic restrictions for face-to-face education, the transfer of indigenous knowledge must also be flexible and persistent. The said learning material will be made available online and shared to indigenous knowledge educators and learners.

Ifugao indigenous cuisine is characterized by the nature of its people for being festive defined by its culture and tradition. Almost all festivities and rituals are associated with the rice terraces agricultural system from land preparation to food consumption. These festivities often require protein-based (pork, poultry, fish and aquatic and dairy), rice-based (rice wine, rice and rice cake), fruits and vegetables.

The promotion and continuing cooking of these cuisines will aid in the conservation of the food resources because of its demand, hence their propagation and continuing production.

There are three (3) widely used method of cooking and preparation that include pure boiling (hibak/lambung), roasted (puluk/hanglag) and sun/air/smoke drying (tapa/hay-ung). Among the common cuisines are the following:

However, food resources in the Ifugao socio-ecological production landscape are being threatened by the loss of indigenous flora and fauna.  The Ifugao Satoyama Meister Training Program documented the state of these Ifugao food resources.

The introduction of invasive species and high yielding varieties are alarmingly replacing the heirloom or indigenous food resource varieties in the rice terraces. The advent of chemical use of fertilizers and agricultural inputs are altering the resiliency of these indigenous food resources from pests and diseases. It is also endangering the aquatic resources from rivers and paddies as these chemical inputs are being washed away at irrigations and rivers. Thus, there is a need to intervene in mitigating these external factors so as to sustain food abundance to be continually available in serving indigenous cuisines. The extinction of food resources results to the collapse of culture that includes cuisines and food related traditions.

The documentation and promotion of indigenous cuisines support the conservation of food resources, agricultural systems, and biodiversity in Ifugao. It will encourage the interest of cooking indigenous cuisines for the younger generation and stirs action in the restoration, development and revitalization of indigenous cuisines relative to rice terraces conservation vis-à-vis being a GIAHS and UNESCO Heritage Site.  #Clyde B. Pumihic