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

AGRICULTURE AND TOURISM TO REVIVING THE SOUTH –

This time the ISTAT data speaks for itself. For the first time since the explosion Great Crisis, the southern economy shows a positive sign of growth: plus one percent in 2015, with 100 thousand more jobs than last yearSmall numbers, but better than the national ones (in Italy, GDP grew by only 0,6 percent in the same period). How do you explain the miracle? With the boom of theagriculture, which grew by 7,3 percent, and by Or rather, the combination that can truly save Southern Italy from the desertification it has sunk into, squandering its best resources in the worst possible way.

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JOBS CREATED BY AGRICULTURE IN THE SOUTH –

Faced with these numbers, all those Cassandras who have always downplayed the opportunities offered by new agriculture, especially those geared toward 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, make big numbers, and are worth as much, if not more, than a factory (which is hard to open) and a public administration (where jobs are cut, not increased).A concrete example: In Sardinia, where there is a strong revival of small-scale sustainable, local and quality agriculture, 7 thousand new jobs were created in this sector last year.What industrial plant, perhaps a cement plant or an oil refining plant, can provide so many jobs to Sardinians? None. These jobs are even more valuable because they are largely for young people, who not only choose farming, but also invest in their land and don't abandon it. Two reasons to support them.Furthermore, modern agriculture is by its nature linked to industry, from the transformation to the recycling of agricultural waste: therefore it can become the basis of new and modern factories.The opposite of the old and destructive "desert cathedrals" 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 –

All this means that Will agriculture and tourism alone 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, by 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, and indeed represent its backbone.The future.

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