Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T01:16:21.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Linkages between organic agriculture and agro-ecotourism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2007

Nae-Wen Kuo*
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute of Tourism and Health Science, National Taipei College of Nursing, Taiwan. Research Center of Environmental System, National Taiwan University, Taiwan.
Yin-Jen Chen
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute of Tourism and Health Science, National Taipei College of Nursing, Taiwan.
Chiou-Lien Huang
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute of Tourism and Health Science, National Taipei College of Nursing, Taiwan.
*
*Corresponding author: [email protected] or [email protected]

Abstract

Organic agriculture is regarded as one important approach to agriculture and food production that is environmentally sustainable and can generate several positive impacts to rural society. However, organic agriculture development is still limited in Taiwan and the major reason is lack of economic incentives to farmers. Hence, one approach to link organic agriculture with agro-ecotourism is proposed in this study to maximize the economic benefit of organic agriculture.

Chrshang Township in Taiwan was selected as an example to develop such eco-organic tourism based on organic agriculture. First, five appropriate activities were designed according to the fundamental principles for guiding the development of eco-organic tourism. In addition, the maximum willingness to pay (WTP) method was employed to estimate potential revenues from eco-organic tourism and then the economic value could be compared with that of other economic activities. Under a conservative scenario, the total annual revenue from eco-organic tourism is about NT$421,293,559, which is about 20 times that of the rice production in the study area.

In addition to the direct economic revenues, the following additional benefits can also be found: (1) the linkage can create additional value of organic agriculture; (2) organic agriculture can contribute to service economy and experience economy; (3) people can increase their confidence in organic products through better understanding; (4) a one-step relationship between organic producer and consumer can be established; and (5) local food supply will be connected with demands in the tourism industry. In summary, under a symbiotic relationship, organic agriculture is not only commodities and goods production, it can become one important service economy and even create experience economy within the tourism industry.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Telfer, D.J. and Wall, G. 1996. Linkages between tourism and food production. Annals of Tourism Research 23:635653.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Socher, K. and Tschurtschenthaler, P. 1994. Tourism and agriculture in Alpine regions. The Tourist Review 50:3541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3 Adam, K.L. 2004. Entertainment Farming and Agri-Tourism. The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), Arkansas, USA.Google Scholar
4 Scialabba, N.E. and Williamson, D. 2004. The Scope of Organic Agriculture, Sustainable Forest Management and Ecoforestry in Protected Area Management. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.Google Scholar
5 Stolton, S., Geier, B., and McNeely, J.A. (eds)2000. The Relationship Between Nature Conservation, Biodiversity and Organic Agriculture. IFOAM, IUCN, WWF, Bonn, Germany.Google Scholar
6 Rigby, D. and Caceres, D. 2001. Organic farming and the sustainability of agricultural systems. Agricultural Systems 68:2140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7 IFOAM. 2002. Organic Agriculture and Biodiversity: Making the Links. IFOAM, Bonn, Germany.Google Scholar
8 Vetterli, W., Perkins, R., Clay, J., and Guttenstein, E. 2002. Environmental aspects Organic Farming and Nature Conservation. OECD Workshop on Organic Agriculture, Washington DC, USA.Google Scholar
9 Pacini, C., Ada Wossink, A., Giesen, G., Vazzana, C., and Huirne, R. 2003. Evaluation of sustainability of organic, integrated and conventional farming systems: a farm and field-scale analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 95:273288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10 Schifferstein, H.N.J. and Oude Ophuis, P.A.M. 1998. Health-related determinants of organic food consumption in the Netherlands. Food Quality and Preference 9:119133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11 Council of Agriculture (COA). 2004. Organic Agriculture Development in Taiwan. COA, Taipei, Taiwan.Google Scholar
12 Huang-Tzeng, C.J. 2000. The Contribution of Organic Farming to Food Safety and the Environment. Research report of Council of Agriculture, Taipei, Taiwan.Google Scholar
13 Chen, S.H. 2003. The difficulties of organic agriculture development in Taiwan. Agriculture Newsletter 29:2023.Google Scholar
14 Council of Agriculture (COA). 2001. Agritourism Policies in Taiwan. Council of Agriculture, Taipei, Taiwan.Google Scholar
15 Kuo, N.W. 2004. The assessment of Agritourism Policy Based on Strategic Environmental Assessment. Research Report of Council of Agriculture, Taipei, Taiwan.Google Scholar
16 Tou, W.S. 2005. The Environmental Problems of Agritourism Development in Ching-Chin Village. National Policy Foundation Commentary, Taipei, Taiwan.Google Scholar
17 Chrshang Township Government. 2003. Yearly Statistics of the Chrshang Township. Chrshang Township Government, Taitung, Taiwan.Google Scholar
18 Bishop, R.C. and Heberlein, T.A. 1990. The contingent valuation method. In Johnson, R.L. and Johnson, G.V. (eds). Boulder, Economic Valuation of Natural Resources: Issues, Theory, and Applications. Westview Press, Boulder, CO. p. 81104.Google Scholar
19 Cummings, R.G., Ganderton, P.T., and McGuckin, T. 1994. Substitution effects in CVM values. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 76:205214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20 Cameron, T.A. and Huppert, D.D. 1989. OLS versus ML estimation of non-market resource values with payment card interval data. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 17:230246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21 Arin, T. and Karmer, R.A. 2002. Divers’ willingness to pay to visit marine sanctuaries: an exploratory study. Ocean and Coastal Management 45:171183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22 Bryden, J.M. 1973. Tourism and Development: A Case Study of the Commonwealth Caribbean. Cambridge University Press, London.Google Scholar
23 Weaver, D. 1998. The evolution of a plantation tourism landscape on the Caribbean Island of Antigua. Tiddschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geographie 79:319331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24 AIAB. 2001. Towards a sustainable tourism in rural Areas. Ecotourism Moldules. Associazione Italiana per l'Agricoltura Biologica (AIAB). Programme Leonardo da Vinci: Action Plan for the Implementation of a Professional Training Policy for the European Union, 19951999.Google Scholar
25 Bellegemvan, T.M. van, T.M. and Eijis, A. 2002. Market creation: organic agriculture in the Netherlands. Research Report of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Hague, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
26 Nilsson, H., Tuncer, B., and Thidell, A. 2004. The use of eco-labeling like initiatives on food products to promote quality assurance – is there enough credibility? Journal of Cleaner Production 12:517526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27 Belisle, F.J. 1983. Tourism and food production in the Caribbean. Annals of Tourism Research 10:497513.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28 Pine, B.J. II and Gilmore, J.H. 1999. The Experience Economy. Harvard Business Press, New York, USA.Google Scholar