Sustainable agriculture and tourism: the wasted treasure that could save the South

AGRICULTURE AND TOURISM TO REVIVING THE SOUTH –

This time, ISTAT data speaks for itself. For the first time since the Great Recession , the Southern Italian economy is showing positive signs of growth : up 1 percent in 2015, with 100,000 more jobs than last year . These are small numbers, but better than the national average (in Italy, GDP grew by only 0,6 percent in the same period). How can this miracle be explained? It's due to the boom in agriculture , which grew by 7,3 percent, and tourism . In other words, the combination that can truly save Southern Italy from the desertification it has sunk into, squandering its best resources in the worst possible way.

ALSO READ: The return of the shepherds: two thousand young people under 40 choose sheep. And they earn...

JOBS CREATED BY AGRICULTURE IN THE SOUTH –

Faced with these numbers, all the Cassandras who have always downplayed the opportunities offered by new agriculture, especially those geared towards sustainability (think organic) and combined with tourism, should stop talking. They consider them of little importance compared to the needs of the South, and the entire country, in terms of growth and employment. Nothing could be further from the truth. Small numbers, when added together, add up to big numbers, and are worth as much, if not more, than a factory (which is struggling to open) and a public administration (where jobs are being cut, not increased) . A concrete example: in Sardinia, where there is a strong revival of small-scale, sustainable, local, and quality agriculture, 7 new jobs were created in this sector last year . What industrial plant, perhaps a cement or oil refining plant, can provide Sardinians with so many jobs? None. These positions are even more valuable because they are largely made up of young people, who not only choose to work the land, but also invest in their land and don't abandon it. Two reasons to support them . Furthermore, modern agriculture is by its very nature linked to industry, from the processing to the recycling of agricultural waste: therefore, it can become the basis for new and modern factories . The opposite of the old and destructive "cathedrals in the desert" that have destroyed entire areas of Southern Italy.

TO LEARN MORE: Agriculture is booming in Italy, with a third of new businesses owned by under-30s.

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND TOURISM –

Finally, when I talk about sustainable agriculture combined with tourism, I think of that vast network of food and wine, agritourism, small, medium, and large hotels, farms, and local production sites that is growing like a dense web throughout Italy. I think of what I've seen, even recently, traveling around southern Italy—think of Puglia, for example—where tourism combined with quality agriculture (from cherries to wine) is already the cornerstone of a new and robust local economy, with extensive, global networks (tourism is by definition a glocal phenomenon).

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND TOURISM TO REVIVAL OF THE ECONOMY OF SOUTHERN ITALY –

Does all this mean that agriculture and tourism alone will be enough to save the South? Absolutely not . Of course, industries are also needed, starting with the rescue and revitalization of the Taranto steelworks (this time, however, making the plants completely safe and reclaiming the area) and new circular economy factories. Of course, public investment is urgently needed, starting with infrastructure, as well as private investment, which is lacking in the South, often under the pretext of poor environmental conditions. But today we know with certainty that agriculture and tourism are no longer the poor relations of the economy, but rather represent its backbone . The future.

TO KNOW MORE: Government allocates €160 million for agricultural jobs