Overcoming the Barriers to Entry of Newcomer Sustainable Farmers: Insights from the Emergence of Organic Clusters in Japan

Simona Zollet and Keshav Maharjan
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Simona Zollet: Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima City, Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-24

Abstract: The growing concern for sustainability in agri-food systems and the parallel decrease in the number of people engaged in agriculture, especially in the Global North, is starting to draw attention to new entrant farmers from non-farming backgrounds (“newcomer” farmers). Newcomers, however, especially if interested in sustainable agriculture, face considerable barriers to entry, and their support needs are often not adequately met by conventional agricultural institutions and support structures. Several studies have highlighted the importance of formal and informal farmer-to-farmer networks and communities of practice for newcomers to receive support, but such networks are usually geographically dispersed. Dynamics of spatial clustering of sustainable farmers, on the other hand, have so far received less attention, particularly in relation to their role in supporting the establishment of newcomers. This study examines the barriers to entry faced by newcomer organic farmers in Japan and the relevance of geographically proximate “clusters” of organic farmers to address such barriers. The results highlight the environmental and social factors that can facilitate the formation of organic clusters in the first place, and how spatial proximity facilitates different forms of cooperation among newcomers. The paper concludes by discussing the potential role of clusters in scaling sustainable agri-food practices.

Keywords: new entrant farmers; newcomer farmers; first-generation farmers; organic farming; sustainability transitions; Japan; small-scale farming; organic farming clusters; farmers’ networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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