Pacific countries, like Vanuatu, rely heavily on tourism and agriculture. Smallholder farming, a vital economic driver, faces significant challenges due to limited access to markets, low productivity and impacts from the pandemic and climate change, including natural disasters and changing weather patterns.
UniSC researchers, led by Dr Cherise Addinsall, are developing a strategic approach to support rural smallholders in Vanuatu to diversify into agritourism — an emerging sector that connects farming and agribusiness with tourism.
Towards a sustainable and diversified sector
Pre-pandemic, the World Bank ranked Vanuatu as the seventh most tourism-dependent country globally (Hyde, 2021). Emerging data highlights significant tourism revenue leakage. The project team is working closely with government and industry to tackle this issue and build capacity in agritourism, to address Vanuatu's vulnerability and long term dependence.
Shifting perspectives to connect tourism and production
The team's strategy promotes a significant shift in the approach to agritourism in Vanuatu. Historically, efforts focussed on rural farmers supplying large resorts and hotels, overlooking opportunities for farmers as entrepreneurs to offer tourists an agritourism experience in their local communities.
New focus is on sustainable traditional local cuisine and traditional farming practices and encouraging greater connection between tourists and primary producers. There's a shift from local to global perspectives and a greater recognition for the role of women in agriculture.
Capacity building in agritourism for social and economic impact
Research-based initiatives have sought to develop the agritourism industry, improving livelihoods and building local capacity with impacts for individual enterprises and national strategies. Highlights include:
- Policy development: Participation on the project team to create the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Policy 2019-2030 to establish favourable policies to support change.
- Strategy development: Co-authorship of the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Strategy (VSTS) (2021-2025) positioning agritourism and diversified business models at the heart of the tourism recovery strategy which gained $150 mil VT in funding for implementation.
- Support and coordination: Establishment of the Vanuatu Agritourism Office and Vanuatu Agritourism Association to support capacity building and improve coordination to empower the emerging sector.
- Mentoring: Events such as the Vanuatu Agritourism Business Support Week furthered government support and offered intensive mentoring of 27 agritourism enterprises on 18 islands across six provinces.
- Awareness and education: Agritourism and local cuisine awareness workshops and forums conducted on ten islands in all six provinces of Vanuatu and an Agritourism Experiences Webinar series were attended by more than 250 participants.
- Promotion and profile raising: Supporting Regenerative Vanua to develop and pilot the Food Tourism and Agritourism Initiative (Produktif Turism Blong Yumi) which won the 2022 Island Innovations Award for Most Transformational Government Sustainability Initiative. This put Vanuatu on the global stage for agritourism and demonstrated the success of the model of outsourcing implementation of government policy to industry and NGOs.
Chief investigator: Dr Cherise Addinsall.
This work is part of UniSC's Australian Centre for Pacific Island Research Pacific Agribusiness Research in Development Initiative.
UniSC takes action to support achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's): Goal 1: No poverty | Goal 2: Zero hunger | Goal 3: Good health and well-being | Goal 13: Climate action | Goal 14: Life below water | Goal 15: Life on land | Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals