Case Studies
Assessment of Support Systems for Farmland Lease of New Entry for Urban Agriculture
2016 Volume 46 Issue 4 Pages 413-426
Details
2016 Volume 46 Issue 4 Pages 413-426
In a population decreasing society, urban agriculture is important for urban reorganization and new entries are expected to play a role in the efficient utilization of urban farmland. Lease of sufficient farmland area affects the business development of new entries in urban areas where farmland is severely scarce. In addition, formal support systems such as public administrations and Farmland Banks are not sufficiently prepared for urban agriculture. Therefore, various informal support systems from existing urban farmers are independently supplied for new entries. The objective of this study is to assess the quality and quantity of leased farmlands and clarify the functions of formal and informal sources.
A questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted in Tokyo and Yokohama. Our analysis framework was as follows. First, assessment of quality and quantity of leased farmland was conducted. The inclination of farmland quality was calculated with a principal component analysis. Second, quality and quantity of farmland were regressed by factors including characteristics of new entries and variables of support from both formal and informal sources. Furthermore, a nonparametric test was simultaneously used to assure significant differences of the multiple regression analysis. Third, farmland-leasing process was qualitatively analyzed.
Results are as follows. First, new entries enlarge the farmland area at the cost of farmland quality. Second, the public sector positively affects the quality of leased farmland, and existing farmers help new entries enlarge their farmland area. On the other hand, the Farmland Bank System does not contribute to farmland quality. Third, the roles of each source are different in each phase of entry and development. Through our findings, we suggest that cooperation between formal and informal sectors is needed to support farmland lease of new entries, and not only the quantity but also quality of leased farmland should be considered.
JEL Classification:Q12, Q15
