Strengthening Rural Economies Through Global Partnerships: Alberta and Minas Gerais in Focus (Strong Farm & Rural Shores)

With all these tariff issues reshaping our trade perspective, I saw a great opportunity to strengthen the strategic relationship between Alberta, Canada, and Minas Gerais, Brazil. Why? Let me tell you a story.

I was born and raised in rural communities in Brazil. There, the perspective is often limited, but I learned a great deal from my academic and professional experiences. My passion for diplomacy, history, and economics guided me to the tourism industry, where I aligned daily farm immersions with hands-on agricultural experiences. My first role was data entry for my family business back in 1995, using an Intel 386 with Windows 3.11, MSDOS to build topographic projects on AutoCAD R12.

My journey in tourism began in 1997, when I volunteered at a seasonal charity event organized by my parents in a fishing community that we visited each summer from 1995 to 1998, located between the states of Espírito Santo and Bahia. I realized that tourism could be a powerful tool to empower rural and remote communities. That was the pivotal moment when I chose tourism and defined my future.

These two worlds, agriculture and tourism, can work together to create significant opportunities that enhance productivity and well-being. Because they connect with so many other economic sectors, both directly and indirectly, their benefits reach far beyond what we can see or even imagine. In a world filled with repetition and self-interest, tourism and agriculture have the power to promote unity, sustainable development, and climate action.

When I launched Strong Farm & Rural Shores through EXA Group Canada in 2021, we were running the 10-Year Countdown initiative, promoting education and offering free technical visits and reports for micro and small farms. Can you see how all these pieces connect? Our goal was to create impact in the Eastern Shore region of Nova Scotia, inspired by the turning point I experienced back in 1997. The content we produced and the impact we generated crossed borders and empowered people across continents.

The mission to align tourism and agriculture as a way to diversify the economy of rural and remote communities is now a strategic imperative. Why? Because we are preparing to trade with Brazil. We are building bridges between Alberta and Minas Gerais. With strategies developed by the Embassy of Brazil in Ottawa and the Government of Canada, which have promoted investments and trade missions in Brazil, our agricultural sectors are becoming more connected. Despite differences in weather and soil, the challenges we face are remarkably similar.

Farmers and ranchers must live experiences in both countries, immersing themselves in different perspectives to open their minds to unexpected solutions. Hannah Arendt once said that power is sustained by common consensus. Based on her philosophy, we can see how dialectical tensions can generate powerful alliances, empowering rural people and making a meaningful impact on GDP in rural and remote areas.

Bon Accord has been exploring agritourism since the 1950s. Mayerthorpe manages agricultural properties that produce oil, gas, crops, and livestock. Hinton is launching promising strategies that offer authentic Canadian experiences as a premier destination. Edmonton is the strategic gateway for Brazilian and South American travellers to land and begin their experiences.

The corridor between Edmonton and Hinton is primed to increase tourism revenue while also fostering agricultural trade in areas such as technology, science, livestock nutrition, food security, genetics, artificial insemination, biologicals, chemicals, commodities, real estate, oil and gas, and mining. For these trades to flourish and prepare business readiness in rural and remote areas of central, Rockies, and northern Alberta, we must prepare our destinations to provide transportation, accommodation, food and beverage services, activities, and events as a basic requirement. Can you see where tourism comes to the table?

In Brazil, cattle are sometimes sold for more than four million dollars per head. These transactions generate taxes, increase municipal revenues, and attract the attention of local governments to tourism development strategies. Everyone benefits. Businesses must hire more employees to grow and upskill their teams to host international stakeholders. This raises the quality of the local workforce and creates more competitive salaries. Attracting talent to rural and remote communities through meaningful job opportunities and decent pay requires those communities to invest in recreation, education, essential services such as waste management, water and energy, health care, housing, and more. These investments stimulate construction and generate even more employment opportunities. Everything I am sharing here produces taxes, jobs, sales, and profits. This powerful perspective creates an environment where the productivity and well-being of residents become the catalysts for sustainable development.

This is not something I invented. The Strong Farm & Rural Shores initiative is grounded in international programs, and one of its pillars is built on the knowledge shared by the OECD. With intensive research from 2006 to the present, one of their most important frameworks, Rural Policy 3.0, and the overview shared in 2016, outlines strategies for rural and remote communities, while also considering urban functional and metropolitan areas in the discussion.

At this moment, I am engaging with ranchers in central Alberta and tourism businesses in Hinton and the Northern Rockies to add value to their efforts. Soon, we will have a joint project to address this gap and build strong international relationships. Are you interested in joining our initiative? Would you like to learn more about how we plan to boost trade and foster international outreach for new markets? Send me an email at edmar@strongfarm.ca. Let’s talk about it!