Tourism and food security nexus in emerging economies: Evidences from Ethiopia
Authors
Date
2019-04
Type
Conference Contribution - published
Collections
Fields of Research
Abstract
The tourism-food security relationship is an essential research consideration that falls at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The key role of tourism based livelihood diversification to end poverty and ensure prosperity of most of Sub-Saharan African and in many other developing regions is justified in the three of the SDGs. It is believed that developing countries where their economy is highly dependent on agriculture, their food security situation can be supported through the creation of tourism based livelihood and income-generating activities. Despite the claim that food insecurity situations can be alleviated through tourism-based alternative livelihoods, empirical evidence concerning the dynamics of the tourism-food relationship is limited. This research brings tourism and food security to the fore and explores the food security outcomes resulting from tourism interactions and the existing constraints for tourism addressing food security using two tourism destinations in Ethiopia using mixed methods approach. The findings suggest that tourism has a positive but yet limited role on food security. Several factors limit the food security role of tourism, including a weak tourism-local food supply chain, resource use conflicts, lack of tourism products with better value, institutional structures, organizational processes, lack of a common focus on food security by key organizations, and lack of coordination and cooperation. By doing so, this paper addresses the prospects of tourism contributing to food security in a developing world context.