Role of Agritourism in Promoting Sustainable Farming Practices in Odogbolu Local Government Area, Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Agri-tourism, a sub-sector of tourism has been closely linked to local community development and also supporting and sustaining the economy of rural farmers. Despite the numerous roles, this subject matter still remains at its infancy stage in Nigeria. This study assessed the role of agritourism in promoting sustainable farming practices in Odogbolu Local Government Area (L.G.A.), Nigeria. Data was collected from 100 registered farmers through the use of a structured questionnaire using snowball sampling technique. Analysis was carried out using descriptive (mean and standard deviation) statistics and result was presented using tables. The result revealed that majority (85%) of the farmers, both male and female were involved in different agritourism activities such as on site marketing (83%), agri-tourism trails (78%), harvest festivals (71%), farm tours (67%), farm to table experience (61%), and so on. Also, farmers perceived these activities as an important way of sustaining agricultural production through promoting crop diversification and biodiversity conservation (3.03±0.95), supporting local and traditional agricultural practices (3.02±0.70), educating visitors about sustainable agriculture practices (2.97±0.87), enhancing the resilience of agricultural communities (2.95±0.79), and provision of financial incentives for implementing sustainable practices (2.92±0.89). However, farmers identified some barriers hindering the sustenance of these activities in which poor marketing and promotion (3.03±0.95), was identified as a major constraint. Therefore, farmers should collaborate with the tourism industry (tour operators/travel agents) in order to engage in strategic marketing and promotion of their agricultural products to encourage visitors’ engagement in farm tourism.