The Food Tourism and Agritourism Initiative has made a significant positive impact on Ni Vanuatu throughout Vanuatu’s islands by creating opportunities to support adaptation and diversification through the development of Food Tourism and Agritourism experiences. This initiative is also having positive social, cultural, environmental and health impacts on Ni Vanuatu and further supporting the Sustainable Development Goals.
It was an exciting year for Food Tourism and Agritourism in 2021 with the successful piloting of the now approved Prodaktif Turism Blong Yumi Initiative (Food Tourism and Agritourism Initiative) which is funded by the European Development Fund (EDF 11) and supported by a number of key partners. The Food Tourism and Agritourism Initiative has now supported the formation of the Vanuatu Agritourism Association and the National Agritourism Committee and the setup of the Vanuatu Agritourism Facebook page with over 10,000 members!
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The Food Tourism and Agritourism Initiative has been developed in a way to support diversification and protect businesses and Indigenous Ni Vanuatu from the volatility and unpredictability of the tourism industry. Positive outcomes are leading to increased disposable income, access to grants to transition to renewable energy, enhancing preservation of cultural knowledge, promoting more sustainable agricultural practices and decreasing consumption of imported and low nutritional food.
The Food Tourism and Agritourism Initiative was successfully piloted in 2021 in all 6 Provinces of Vanuatu to meet activities within theme 3 of the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Strategy (2021-2025). The activities included field work, training and awareness on the concept of food tourism and agritourism experiences and cooking demonstrations to encourage eating local nutrient dense foods and showing innovative and creative ways to serve local food using traditional knowledge as the foundation for creating unique menus. As a result of the piloting of the FTA Initiative, Vanuatu now has 27 agritourism ambassadors with market ready experiences from all 6 Provinces of Vanuatu covering 13 islands.