The taste of sustainability: A virtual coffee break on agritourism, food and better life

Tourism in rural areas can play a pivotal role in supporting local economies. Aside from diversifying farmers’ incomes, it raises awareness of the significance of rural areas for food security and the environment, while demonstrating the importance of protecting culinary and cultural heritage, conserving local biodiversity and preserving landscapes.

In partnership with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Regional Department for Europe, the FAO Liaison Office in Brussels organized a virtual coffee on agritourism, food and better life. The event shed light on the importance of developing and promoting sustainable agritourism by tapping into the potential of innovative solutions, public-private partnerships, and the engagement of farmers, women and youth.

In his opening remarks, Director of the FAO Liaison Office in Brussels Raschad Al-Khafaji made a special mention of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), an FAO programme that has designated some 60 sites around the world already. GIAHS are agroecosystems inhabited by communities that conserve natural landscapes, perform traditional agricultural practices and combine protection of biodiversity, resilient ecosystems, tradition and innovation.

“They are a living, evolving system of human communities in an intricate relationship with their territory,” said Al-Khafaji. “For centuries, traditional agricultural systems have been hugely important in providing food to many family farmers living in rural areas around the world. Today, they are also being increasingly recognized for sustaining livelihoods, maintaining local agrobiodiversity, fragile landscapes, traditional knowledge, and farmers’ identity and culture, and supporting entire rural communities and the environment surrounding them.”

FAO GIAHS Coordinator Yoshihide Endo told the audience that “the purpose of GIAHS sites is to conserve and promote adaptation to the ever-changing environmental and economic situations. Dynamic conservation is the ultimate aim of the GIAHS programme.”

The GIAHS, the 1000 Digital Villages and the Coalition for Fragile Ecosystems are just some of the initiatives that joint FAO-UNWTO efforts are promoting, based on harnessing sustainable rural tourism to strengthen rural economies and conserve ecosystems.

UNWTO Regional Department for Europe Director Alessandra Priante said that “tourism is definitely a tool for restarting the economy, for recovery after the pandemic. Tourism for development will not just be a trend of the moment, but it is here to stay,” she said.

UNWTO Chief for Tourism, Market Intelligence and Competitiveness Sandra Carvao presented the Best Tourism Villages pilot project, launched in 2021 with recognition of the first 44 villages. Evaluation criteria include economic sustainability, tourism development, conservation of natural and cultural resources, and factors such as the integration of the tourism value chain into other related areas, such as agriculture and gastronomy.

Best practices of sustainable agritourism from around the world were presented at the virtual event. They included the Malaga Raisin Production System at La Axarquía in Spain, Slovenia’s Brda-Collio region, and a presentation by the Ministry of Tourism of Indonesia that highlighted the culinary tradition of the country.

You can read more about the FAO GIAHS Programme here.

Watch the recording of the Virtual Coffee Talk here.