Exploring the role of local food systems in sustainable rural development: A multi-method approach to community-based tourism

Amid rural economic reconfiguration and the imperative to reconcile tourism with food-system sustainability, Community-Based Food Tourism (CBFT) has emerged as a consequential interface between local food systems, livelihoods, and rural transformation. Yet, its contribution to multidimensional rural development remains insufficiently elucidated. This study examines whether and how CBFT advances sustainable rural development through livelihood diversification, community empowerment, cultural preservation, and environmental stewardship. An integrated multi-method design combines Q-methodology, conjoint analysis, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine stakeholder and tourist perceptions, preference structures, and perceived relationships between CBFT and sustainable rural development. Findings indicate that CBFT is perceived to strengthen localized food networks, stimulate entrepreneurial opportunities, enhance community participation, and valorize culinary and cultural heritage. However, consequential trade-offs include ecological stress, resource overuse, cultural commodification, and uneven benefit distribution. Importantly, SEM results reflect perceived relationships rather than independently verified causal or longitudinal effects. CBFT is therefore conceptualized as a contextually contingent mechanism whose efficacy depends upon community agency, equitable value retention, institutional governance, cultural integrity, and environmental safeguards. The study advances a nuanced understanding of CBFT as a potential pathway toward inclusive and resilient rural development.