THE country’s growing farm tourism industry takes on higher ground, quite literally, as it goes to Baguio for the 9th International Farm Tourism Conference. This was how the International School of Sustainable Tourism (ISST) introduced for the first time the conference in Baguio with the theme ‘Highland Harvest: Cultivating Sustainable Agriculture and Tourism. ISST held its first farm tourism conference in 2014 in Daet, Camarines Norte and has since gone around in the lowlands and coastal areas like Tagaytay, Iloilo, Cebu, Bohol and General Santos.
Farm tourism has been the mission of ISST and its president Mina Gabor has since been indefatigably pushing for its promotion. Farm tourism is defined as the practice of drawing visitors and tourists to working farms or fishing areas for production, educational and recreational purposes, that can provide both farm and community some income.
In a press conference, she said what was important is the creation of a knowledge base for those involved in agriculture to be able to create a solid program that is not wasteful.
The conference in March covered the status and potential of agricultural industries like coffee, fishery, ornamental flowers and systems needed to upscale farm tourism like branding, cultural heritage, marketing and exporting. Included also were talks on climate change and biodiversity.
But it was the tangible responses farm tourism offers to prevailing woes in agriculture Gabor discussed in a press conference that felt meaningful and most relevant. On this, Gabor and ISST movers brought in experiences and best practices from other places that may also work on the local level.
Among these main threats is the ageing population of farmers. Cordillera tourism regional director, Jovy Ganongan said the average age of the country’s farmers is 57 years old, even younger in Cordillera, at 55 years old. And will the young ones take over? That’s a hard question.
On a road trip to Benguet farms, this writer also heard and observed farmers encouraging their children to pursue what to their minds were more lucrative courses. And there are the young themselves immersed in an internet generation where progress equates to the speed of digital information and tilling the land is seen as backward and bereft of economic opportunities.
Gabor sees the solution in starting them young. She prodded the education department to promote the interest of young students in agriculture through farm tourism. Agriculture must be part of the curriculum, to include field trips to farms, so that the young will become aware that farming is not just about planting and harvesting, but also about enterprise and product development, which is enticing to the young.
The older generation need not fade away, too. In interviews she made among farmers living near the Kinatabangan River in Sabah, Gabor found that older farmers acted as historians because they could even predict the weather. ‘Old experience makes the link between the old and young important,’ she said.
Another aspect the young find exciting is edible landscaping, which is now in some schools. ‘We have reached up to the Visayas and by the last count, one part of Southern Luzon,’ said Gabor
Asked about the intrusion of agriculture into forest land which is a serious concern in the region, Gabor cites a practice in Costa Rica which she has already communicated to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
All around the huge rainforest reservation in Costa Rica are farmlands the government gives free and farmers can keep the income they derive from tilling the land. In return they act as stewards of the forest so no hunting nor destruction occurs in the protected area. She believes this can be a way to protect Sierra Madre while also helping farmers.
Places can also be designated as sacred where elders call a ceremony and declare the place sacred, with rules like being clean when entering the place. She cites a place in Indonesia where a spot has been protected and treated as sacred for the last 15 years through this practice.
ISST dedication to farm tourism
THE establishment of the ISST is by itself a significant move in strengthening farm tourism. The school started offering only a certificate program with three courses: Farm Tourism 101, Marketing and Finance, Marketing and Promotion. ‘Today we have 16 courses, one of which is the edible landscape,’ she said.
‘Edible landscaping, designing areas instead of the usual horizontal plots, brings out the passion and creative side of the students, so it is passion complemented by action,’ she explained.
ISST Board Director Dr. Jose ‘Jojo’ Bernardo brought his experiences from his leadership roles at the Tokyo, Japan-based Asian Productivity Organiztion (APO) to the ISST.
He was director of the APO agricultural department where he spearheaded initiatives in sustainable agriculture, and one of his key projects was promoting rural ecotourim. Together with a colleague, he developed a farm tourism program, which he brought home with him after retiring from ATO.
‘I’m bringing to ISST my experiences in Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia where I conducted training on farm tourism. We have been giving ecotourism courses at ISST and holding conferences for more than a decade to promote farm tourism,’ he said.
ISST is the only school in Asia-Pacific that offers courses in sustainable ecotourism.
The good news is that ISST is now coordinating with CHED for the development of a four-year Bachelor of Science for Sustainable Tourism Management course. They are completing the documents and looking at places to hopefully get it off the ground and have the first batch by next year.
Urban farm tourism, Gabor said, is one of the most important trainings they have. She cites Paranaque where after the ‘riles ng train’ portion was fixed, there are now farms and they have produce given to school children.
In fact, in urban agriculture where space is a concern, this may not demand a large area. In Manila, she cited three mushroom producers occupying only about 50 sqm who earn some P65 thousand a month. They are not just in production but also in processing, and people watch the process. ‘The important thing is to get started, even in small ways, and people will follow,’ she said.
Farm tourism also brings people to the product, which costs less rather than bringing the product to the market. Gabor’s relentless enthusiasm and persuasive passion has also earned government support for farm tourism.
In 2015, she met with then Senator Cynthia Villar to convince her that farm tourism is the answer to the problem of ageing farmers and farmers who give up and turn to more reliable sources of income like carpentry or construction work.
In November of that year, Villar called for a public hearing where Gabor brought all the supporting documents and some 20 people who were into farming to join her. On May 16, 2016, six months after the hearing, the late then President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino 111 signed into law RA 10816 or the Farm Tourism Development Act. This RA offers tax privileges and support programs for accredited tourism farms.
More recently, on February 16 of this year, the agriculture, trade and tourism departments launched the Strategic Action Plan for Farm Tourism 2016-2031 which expands agritourism from policy into execution.
This six-year roadmap links farming directly with tourism and gastronomy and encourages hotels and restaurants to buy directly from local farmers. It also aims to make the country a top farm and food destination across Asia.
Already, Gabor says that 30 percent of tourists go to farms with about 100,000 visitors at the peak of summer. Despite the potential, by 2023, only 231 farms have been accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT). ISST, meanwhile, has identified 800 good farming sites. To boost the number, ISST organizes farms for organic agriculture training, a requirement for accreditation.
The Cordillera region, which fills 80 percent of the country’s demand for high- value crops, ironically has only 25 farms accredited for farm tourism.
Farmers here can take inspiration from the success stories of Northern Blossoms, a must-go destination in Benguet; the Cosmic Farm of Rogel Marzan, now a Tesda- accredited training center for organic farming; and the Living Gifts Nursery that has the biggest collection of cacti specie in the country, for they all started in simple and small ways
For the love of it
DESPITE over a decade of tireless pursuit of farm tourism, Gabor thinks of it as always exciting as every step of the way, every story heard gives a new learning. She has her own story to tell on how old wisdom can be steeped in superstition.
As children at her grandmother’s house, they used to throw slippers at a bees’ nest to drive them away, and her grandmother would scold them as the nest brings good luck, although she could not say how. In time, Gabor understood the sound science behind it-where bees build their colony indicate a balanced ecology. ‘Every province has their own anecdotes to tell. We learn from them more than what we teach them,’ Gabor said.
Farm tourism promises economic and environmental gains, but its real charm and allure seems to lie in nostalgia,
Gabor said that when people were asked why they go to farms, visitors would say it’s because they miss the old and simple ways. With all the stress and complexities of modern life, farms offer the refreshing simple needs of life-fresh air, clean food and the joys of sharing and storytelling.