IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i10p2887-d233047.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Farm Diversification and Sustainability of Multifunctional Peri-Urban Agriculture: Entrepreneurial Attributes of Advanced Diversification in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Shingo Yoshida

    (Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tokyo 100-0013, Japan)

  • Hironori Yagi

    (Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Graduate School of Agricultural Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan)

  • Akira Kiminami

    (Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Graduate School of Agricultural Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan)

  • Guy Garrod

    (Centre for Rural Economy, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK)

Abstract

Multifunctionality of urban agriculture is essential for the sustainability of both cities and urban farms, especially in Asian mega-cities exhibiting extensive urban sprawl. To maximise the multifunctionality of these farms, entrepreneurial or innovative farm diversification is important. However, there is insufficient research on this issue in developed countries. This study aims to demonstrate the existence of advanced diversified farms characterised by entrepreneurship, skilled farm management and social networks and explore their economic and social sustainability by using data from a survey of 386 farms located close to urban areas in Japan. Gaussian mixture clustering analysis revealed that only about 10% of the sample can be classified as advanced diversified farms and most of the other diversified farms do not exhibit entrepreneurial attributes. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that advanced diversification has a positive impact not only on the economic viability of farms, but also on their social performance. These findings have significant implications for policies promoting the sustainability of urban agriculture, suggesting that a more balanced promotion of the diversification and entrepreneurial attributes of farms is crucial to building a sustainable relationship between cities and urban agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Shingo Yoshida & Hironori Yagi & Akira Kiminami & Guy Garrod, 2019. "Farm Diversification and Sustainability of Multifunctional Peri-Urban Agriculture: Entrepreneurial Attributes of Advanced Diversification in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:10:p:2887-:d:233047
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/10/2887/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/10/2887/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel A. Summer & Christopher A. Wolf, 2002. "Diversification, Vertical Integration, and the Regional Pattern of Dairy Farm Size," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 24(2), pages 442-457.
    2. Gerard Mcelwee, 2006. "Farmers As Entrepreneurs: Developing Competitive Skills," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(03), pages 187-206.
    3. Julian Clark, 2009. "Entrepreneurship and diversification on English farms: Identifying business enterprise characteristics and change processes," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 213-236, March.
    4. Morck, R. & Yeung, B., 1997. "Why Investors Sometimes Value Size and Diversification: The Internalization Theory of Synergy," Working Papers 411, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    5. Amanor-Boadu, Vincent, 2013. "Diversification Decisions in Agriculture: The Case of Agritourism in Kansas," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 16(2), pages 1-17, May.
    6. Study From, 1998. "Farm-based Tourism as an Alternative Farm," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 355-364.
    7. Tew, Christine & Barbieri, Carla, 2012. "The perceived benefits of agritourism: The provider’s perspective," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 215-224.
    8. Gerard McElwee, 2008. "A taxonomy of entrepreneurial farmers," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(3), pages 465-478.
    9. repec:fth:michin:411 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Boncinelli, Fabio & Bartolini, Fabio & Casini, Leonardo, 2018. "Structural factors of labour allocation for farm diversification activities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 204-212.
    11. Fotiadis, Anestis & Yeh, Shih-Shuo & Huan, Tzung-Cheng T.C., 2016. "Applying configural analysis to explaining rural-tourism success recipes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 1479-1483.
    12. Sarah Taylor Lovell, 2010. "Multifunctional Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Land Use Planning in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(8), pages 1-24, August.
    13. Graham Leask & David Parker, 2007. "Strategic groups, competitive groups and performance within the U.K. pharmaceutical industry: Improving our understanding of the competitive process," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(7), pages 723-745, July.
    14. Yagi, Hironori & Garrod, Guy, 2018. "The future of agriculture in the shrinking suburbs: The impact of real estate income and housing costs," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 812-822.
    15. Peter Ebbes & Rajdeep Grewal & Wayne DeSarbo, 2010. "Modeling strategic group dynamics: A hidden Markov approach," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 241-274, June.
    16. McKeever, Edward & Jack, Sarah & Anderson, Alistair, 2015. "Embedded entrepreneurship in the creative re-construction of place," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 50-65.
    17. Richard Blundel, 2002. "Network evolution and the growth of artisanal firms: a tale of two regional cheese makers," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 1-30, January.
    18. Klaas Calker & Paul Berentsen & Gerard Giesen & Ruud Huirne, 2005. "Identifying and ranking attributes that determine sustainability in Dutch dairy farming," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 22(1), pages 53-63, March.
    19. Deborah Che & Ann Veeck & Gregory Veeck, 2005. "Sustaining production and strengthening the agritourism product: Linkages among Michigan agritourism destinations," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 22(2), pages 225-234, June.
    20. Bernd Pölling & Marcus Mergenthaler, 2017. "The Location Matters: Determinants for “Deepening” and “Broadening” Diversification Strategies in Ruhr Metropolis’ Urban Farming," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-19, July.
    21. Schilling, Brian J. & Attavanich, Witsanu & Jin, Yanhong, 2014. "Does Agritourism Enhance Farm Profitability?," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 39(1), pages 1-28, April.
    22. Doris Läpple & Hugh Kelley, 2015. "Spatial dependence in the adoption of organic drystock farming in Ireland," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 42(2), pages 315-337.
    23. Danny Miller, 1983. "The Correlates of Entrepreneurship in Three Types of Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(7), pages 770-791, July.
    24. repec:taf:entreg:v:23:y:2011:i:3-4:p:89-111 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Litt, J.S. & Schmiege, S.J. & Hale, J.W. & Buchenau, M. & Sancar, F., 2015. "Exploring ecological, emotional and social levers of self-rated health for urban gardeners and non-gardeners: A path analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1-8.
    26. Bartolini, Fabio & Andreoli, Maria & Brunori, Gianluca, 2014. "Explaining determinants of the on-farm diversification: empirical evidence from Tuscany region," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 3(2), pages 1-21, August.
    27. Habbershon, Timothy G. & Williams, Mary & MacMillan, Ian C., 2003. "A unified systems perspective of family firm performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 451-465, July.
    28. Rulon D. Pope & Richard Prescott, 1980. "Diversification in Relation to Farm Size and Other Socioeconomic Characteristics," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 62(3), pages 554-559.
    29. Franz W. Kellermanns & Kimberly A. Eddleston, 2006. "Corporate Entrepreneurship in Family Firms: A Family Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(6), pages 809-830, November.
    30. Jeffrey G. Covin & Dennis P. Slevin, 1989. "Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 75-87, January.
    31. Yasuo Ohe, 2018. "Educational tourism in agriculture and identity of farm successors," Tourism Economics, , vol. 24(2), pages 167-184, March.
    32. Om Narasimhan & Surendra Rajiv & Shantanu Dutta, 2006. "Absorptive Capacity in High-Technology Markets: The Competitive Advantage of the Haves," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(5), pages 510-524, September.
    33. Jack, Sarah L. & Anderson, Alistair R., 2002. "The effects of embeddedness on the entrepreneurial process," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 467-487, September.
    34. Wayne S. DeSarbo & C. Anthony Di Benedetto & Michael Song & Indrajit Sinha, 2005. "Revisiting the Miles and Snow strategic framework: uncovering interrelationships between strategic types, capabilities, environmental uncertainty, and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 47-74, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shingo Yoshida & Hironori Yagi, 2021. "Long-Term Development of Urban Agriculture: Resilience and Sustainability of Farmers Facing the Covid-19 Pandemic in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Xiaowei Chen & Tianyu Zhang & Fu Jia, 2020. "Industry convergence as a strategy for achieving sustainable development of agricultural complex: The case of Sandun‐Lanli in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2679-2694, September.
    3. Luiza Vigne Bennedetti & Paulo Antônio de Almeida Sinisgalli & Maurício Lamano Ferreira & Fabiano Lemes de Oliveira, 2023. "Challenges to Promote Sustainability in Urban Agriculture Models: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Zuxuan Song & Fangmei Liu & Wenbo Lv & Jianwu Yan, 2023. "Classification of Urban Agricultural Functional Regions and Their Carbon Effects at the County Level in the Pearl River Delta, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-29, September.
    5. Wang, Min & Yuan, Mengchu & Han, Pingyang & Wang, Dan, 2022. "Assessing sustainable urban development based on functional spatial differentiation of urban agriculture in Wuhan, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    6. Wei Li & Yang Zhou & Zhanwei Zhang, 2021. "Culture-Led Plan for Peri-Urban Agricultural Sustainability: A Case of Pu’an Village in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-10, March.
    7. Wojciech Sroka & Dariusz Żmija, 2021. "Farming Systems Changes in the Urban Shadow: A Mixed Approach Based on Statistical Analysis and Expert Surveys," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-29, May.
    8. Beatriz Forés & Zélia Breithaupt Janssen & Heitor Takashi Kato, 2021. "A Bibliometric Overview of Tourism Family Business," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-33, November.
    9. Miaomiao Xie & Manyu Li & Zhaoyang Li & Meng Xu & Yan Chen & Ran Wo & De Tong, 2020. "Whom Do Urban Agriculture Parks Provide Landscape Services to and How? A Case Study of Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, June.
    10. Shan He & Lin Lin & Qian Xu & Chenxia Hu & Mengmeng Zhou & Jinhua Liu & Yongjun Li & Ke Wang, 2021. "Farmland Zoning Integrating Agricultural Multi-Functional Supply, Demand and Relationships: A Case Study of the Hangzhou Metropolitan Area, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, September.
    11. Joanna Wiśniewska-Paluszak & Grzegorz Paluszak, 2021. "The Urban and Peri-Urban Farms (UPFs) Relational Model: The Case of Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-21, May.
    12. Zuxuan Song & Ren Yang, 2022. "The Interaction and Its Evolution of the Urban Agricultural Multifunctionality and Carbon Effects in Guangzhou, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-25, August.
    13. Ahmad Bathaei & Dalia Štreimikienė, 2023. "A Systematic Review of Agricultural Sustainability Indicators," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-19, January.
    14. Volkov, Artiom & Morkunas, Mangirdas & Balezentis, Tomas & Streimikiene, Dalia, 2022. "Are agricultural sustainability and resilience complementary notions? Evidence from the North European agriculture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    15. Ewa Kiryluk-Dryjska & Barbara Więckowska, 2020. "Territorial Clusters of Farmers’ Interest in Diversification in Poland: Geospatial Location and Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-15, June.
    16. Shingo Yoshida, 2020. "Effects of Urbanization on Farmland Size and Diversified Farm Activities in Japan: An Analysis Based on the Land Parcel Database," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-23, September.
    17. Xabier Díaz de Otálora & Agustín del Prado & Federico Dragoni & Fernando Estellés & Barbara Amon, 2021. "Evaluating Three-Pillar Sustainability Modelling Approaches for Dairy Cattle Production Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, June.
    18. Branko Mihailović & Ivana Radić Jean & Vesna Popović & Katica Radosavljević & Biljana Chroneos Krasavac & Aleksandra Bradić-Martinović, 2020. "Farm Differentiation Strategies and Sustainable Regional Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, September.
    19. Orlando Cimino & Marco Vassallo & Roberto Henke & Francesco Vanni, 2021. "Income Diversification Strategies of Italian Peri-Urban Farms: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-23, July.
    20. Ogawa, Keishi & Garrod, Guy & Yagi, Hironori, 2023. "Sustainability strategies and stakeholder management for upland farming," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    21. Wiśniewska-Paluszak, J. & Paluszak, G. & Fiore, M. & Coticchio, A. & Galati, A. & Lira, J., 2023. "Urban agriculture business models and value propositions: Mixed methods approach based on evidence from Polish and Italian case studies," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shingo Yoshida & Hironori Yagi, 2021. "Long-Term Development of Urban Agriculture: Resilience and Sustainability of Farmers Facing the Covid-19 Pandemic in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Emilio Pindado & Mercedes Sánchez, 2017. "Researching the entrepreneurial behaviour of new and existing ventures in European agriculture," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 421-444, August.
    3. René Díaz-Pichardo & Cecilia Cantú-González & Patricia López-Hernández & Gerard McElwee, 2012. "From Farmers to Entrepreneurs," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 21(1), pages 91-116, March.
    4. Shingo Yoshida & Hironori Yagi, 2023. "Effects of Sustainability Practices on Farm Continuity in Urban Agriculture: From the Creating Shared Value Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-20, October.
    5. Khairabadi, Omid & Sajadzadeh, Hassan & Mohammadianmansoor, Saheb, 2020. "Assessment and evaluation of tourism activities with emphasis on agritourism: The case of simin region in Hamedan City," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    6. Unai Arzubiaga & Txomin Iturralde & Amaia Maseda & Josip Kotlar, 2018. "Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in family SMEs: the moderating effects of family, women, and strategic involvement in the board of directors," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 217-244, March.
    7. Hernández-Linares, Remedios & Kellermanns, Franz W. & López-Fernández, María Concepción, 2018. "A note on the relationships between learning, market, and entrepreneurial orientations in family and nonfamily firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 192-204.
    8. Shingo Yoshida, 2020. "Effects of Urbanization on Farmland Size and Diversified Farm Activities in Japan: An Analysis Based on the Land Parcel Database," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-23, September.
    9. Gina Santos & Carla Susana Marques & João Ferreira, 2021. "The Influence of Embeddedness on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy: A Gender Perspective in the Agri-Food Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-29, August.
    10. Ewa Kiryluk-Dryjska & Barbara Więckowska, 2020. "Territorial Clusters of Farmers’ Interest in Diversification in Poland: Geospatial Location and Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-15, June.
    11. Felipe Hernández-Perlines & Juan Moreno-García & Benito Yáñez-Araque, 2019. "The influence of socioemotional wealth in the entrepreneurial orientation of family businesses," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 523-544, June.
    12. André de Abreu Saraiva Monteiro Alves & Fernando Manuel Pereira de Oliveira Carvalho, 2022. "How Dynamic Managerial Capabilities, Entrepreneurial Orientation, and Operational Capabilities Impact Microenterprises’ Global Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-23, December.
    13. Erik Lundmark & Anna Krzeminska & Dean A. Shepherd, 2019. "Images of Entrepreneurship: Exploring Root Metaphors and Expanding Upon Them," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 138-170, January.
    14. Felipe Hernández-Perlines & Manuel Alejandro Ibarra Cisneros, 2018. "The Role of Environment in Sustainable Entrepreneurial Orientation. The Case of Family Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, June.
    15. Riviere, Monica & Romero-Martínez, Ana M., 2021. "Network embeddedness, headquarters entrepreneurial orientation, and MNE international performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    16. Lin Song & Li Jing, 0. "Strategic orientation and performance of new ventures: empirical studies based on entrepreneurial activities in China," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-24.
    17. Anna Tafidou & Evgenia Lialia & Angelos Prentzas & Asimina Kouriati & Eleni Dimitriadou & Christina Moulogianni & Thomas Bournaris, 2023. "Land Diversification and Its Contribution to Farms’ Income," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-12, April.
    18. Arz, Christopher, 2019. "Bridging the micro-macro gap: A multi-layer culture framework for understanding entrepreneurial orientation in family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 1-1.
    19. Thomas Zellweger & Philipp Sieger, 2012. "Entrepreneurial orientation in long-lived family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 67-84, January.
    20. Lin Song & Li Jing, 2017. "Strategic orientation and performance of new ventures: empirical studies based on entrepreneurial activities in China," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 989-1012, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:10:p:2887-:d:233047. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.