Comparative Study on the Diffusion Process of Konotori Rice and Toki Rice:A Collaborative Governance Approach

Abstract

Both Toyooka-city in Hyogo prefecture and Sado-city in Niigata prefecture have engaged in diffusion of environmentally-friendly farming, as a part of reintroduction activities of Ciconia boyciana and Nipponia nippon respectively. These cities are significantly different in; (1) the transition of the acreage adopting environmentally-friendly farming; and (2) the acreage adopting organic farming as one of the most environmentally-friendly practices. This paper conducts a comparative analysis about the influences of collaborative governance between multi-actors on the diffusion process of environmentally-friendly farming. Our results show that existence or non-existence of network extension by a leader in each actor results in great differences of the cycle of collaborative process. This finding is particularly true for “outcomes”, the last phase of collaborative process, in the diffusion of environmentally-friendly farming between the two cities.