Leveraging the cultural value of ancient (tomatoes) varieties: toward a biodiversity marketing approach to enhance Agriculture as a driver for Sustainability

Due to economic interests in producing varieties resistant to diseases, insects, and climate change, ancient tomato varieties in the Mediterranean area have been neglected causing biodiversity loss. By reversing the common view of agriculture and sustainability, this work shifts attention from investigating how to make agriculture more sustainable to how to make agriculture a driver for promoting sustainability. The hypothesis is that marketing can successfully support strategies that leverage the cultural value of biodiversity. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the current interest in marketing studies for biodiversity to identify possible paths to follow for driving attention to ancient tomato varieties as a strategy for promoting sustainability.