From climate worry to guest welcome: Agritourism as a diversification path for Kosovo's smallholder farmers
(Link)Abstract: Small farms in Kosovo are facing hotter summers, longer dry seasons, and sudden storms that make yields and income less predictable. To cope, agricultural households are looking beyond basic crops and livestock and turning to agritourism, a commonly discussed adaptation option. In this paper, we pose three questions: How do farmers’ perceptions of changing weather relate to their interest in starting agritourism as a diversification strategy? What motives and conditions (economic goals, family considerations, available assets and access, etc.) shape willingness-to-start? How do farmers describe the link between diversification and perceived stress within this setting? We conducted 25 semi-structured interviews between 2023 and 2024 and analysed the transcripts with a hybrid deductive and inductive coding approach. Many participants attributed recent yield losses to changing weather, viewing agritourism as a “safer” income stream when the necessary roads, cabins, and family labour were available. The strongest motives to diversify were income security, keeping the farm in family hands, and experimenting with low-input, nature-friendly practices. Diversification reduced stress for some farmers, but new pressures emerged where infrastructure or marketing support was limited. Policy support may include small grants for basic facilities and signage, a shared booking platform, light-touch coaching on pricing and marketing, screening tools to match assets to options, and advisory support paired with simple stress-management resources.
