What is agritourism?
« Agritourism is defined as an alternative form of tourism, which involves tourists travelling to farm settings for the purposes of recreation or education, and thus brings additional benefits to the farmer, environment and the local community”. (Arroyo et al.,2013)
At a time marked by the challenge of preserving the environment, the type of tourism practices that people want to participate in is influenced by their beliefs: «Le tourisme lie? a? l’agriculture est trop peu exploite?. Il apporte un e?norme be?ne?fice d’image pour le territoire. Il renvoie a? un certain ide?al de vie » (Durrande-Moreau, A., 2017). Although extreme forms of green tourism still represent a form of alternative tourism, these projects are booming around the globe.
Agritourism, still underdeveloped in Ghana bit has a strong growth potential. Like many countries with a booming economy, it is experiencing a strong rural exodus « la de?gradation de l’environnement chasse des millions de paysans pauvres vers les villes » (Bianco, J., 2019). In addition, the economic situation of rural population is difficult (CommodAfrica, 2019).
What about tourism in Ghana?
- In Ghana, tourism is the fourth largest foreign exchange earner after gold, cocoa and remittances from abroad (Eshun, G., Tettey, C., 2014, p.83)
- Ghana is ranked 117th out of 140 countries in terms of the overall travel and tourism competitiveness (Eshun, G., Tettey, C., 2014, p.83)
The benefits of agritourism
Agritourism is a way for farmers to diversify their income and earn financial incentives through this mix of agriculture and tourism.
Chantell van Niekerk (2013) was interested in the benefits of agritourism in South Africa. She notes that, in addition to creating a additional income for the farm family, agritourism “can promote economic growth by linking different economic activities while enhancing the conservation of the environment by
encouraging low impact agriculture which responds to the tourist’s quest for an authentic rural product” (Van Niekerk, C., 2013, p. 51). The different testimonies of the farmers also noted the fact that “agritourism destinations could act as an offset point for some of the local farmers’ produce, which may extend the benefits to other surrounding businesses” (Van Niekerk, C., 2013, p. 139).
The figure 1 illustrates the placement of agritourism in the overall tourism industry within the South African context.
How about in Ghana?
According to Ghana’s 2010 population census, there are about 24.22 million inhabitants in the country, and 56.2% of them live in rural areas. In Africa, young people are less and less interested in agriculture. This is due to bad returns on investment and hard work due to the lack of new technologies. The agritourism could give these young people a taste for agriculture.
Adjeikrom Cocoa Tour
The Adjeikram Cocoa Tour Facility (ACTF) provides three main attractions: Cocoa Tour, Mountain Hiking and Village Tour. This tour takes visitors through the entire process. According to a study conducted in 2013 by Eshun and Tettey “67% (out of 50 respondents) stated that the community is endowed with ‘very good’ agritourism resources ». The impact of agritourism in this region has been noted to be beneficial for farmers. All of their cocoa production has increased thanks to the help of tourism associations that have helped them financially as well as trained them on the modern methods of cocoa production. Farmers “stated that their families benefit from ACTF by some of them being employed as tour guide, providing accommodation, and selling agriproducts and foodstuff to tourists ». (Eshun, G., Tettey, C., 2014, p.92).
Questions de recherche : Agritourisme au Ghana
Par les deux ressources que nous avons pu e?tudier : La fe?ve de cacao (principale ressource e?conomique du pays) et le cafe?, nous nous sommes rendus compte que ces richesses ghane?ennes n’e?taient pas assez mises en avant. Notre inte?re?t pour l’agritourisme au Ghana e?tait une e?vidence. Comme nous avons pu le mentionner, plus de 55% de la population ghane?enne travaille dans les milieux ruraux et ce me?me pays est classe? 117e?me sur 140 pays en matie?re de compe?titivite? touristique. Le paralle?le n’e?tait pas complique?. Pourquoi ne pas user de cette force rurale et cre?atrice de ressources (financie?res et touristiques) pour exploiter et dynamiser l’agritourisme ? De plus, l’exode rurale est un fle?au pour le pays. Cette branche d’activite? permettrait de balancer cette tendance et de stimuler les jeunes a? rester dans les diverses plantations familiales tout en y ajoutant une source de renouveau.
L’exercice ne nous laissant pas libre choix du nombre de mots, nous n’avons pu e?voquer tous les points qui nous semblaient inte?ressants et pertinents. Voici les diverses questions qui nous paraissent visiter l’ensemble des interrogations lie?es a? l’implantion de l’agritourisme au Ghana.
- Quelles formes d’agritourisme ple?bisciter au Ghana?
- Par quels moyens les milieux ruraux peuvent e?tre valorise?s?
- L’agritourisme est-il une solution a? l’exode rural?
- Quelles sont les attentes des consommateurs souhaitant expe?rimenter l’agritourisme et quel public viser ?
- Þ Par quels canaux atteindre le public-cible? (Agences de voyage; site web, etc.)
- Quel modèle d’agritourisme : quelle part de tourisme et quelle part d’agriculture?
- Le Ghana se lance dans la production de son chocolat : e?tablir des partenariats avec des chocolatiers suisses ?
Jérôme Küffer and Eugénie Jost
Bibiliography
Image bandeau de l’article : Ghana Cocoa Tour. https://www.ghanacocoatours.com/interactiveicocoa-farm-tour, last accessed 04/06/2019
Image article : The benefits of agritourism: Two case studies in the Western Cape. Thesis, Stellenbosch University, p. 42. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/80008, last accessed 04/06/2019.
Durrande-Moreau,A.,Courvoisier, F.& Bocquet,A.-M. (2017).Le nouvel agritourisme inte?gre?, une tendance du tourisme durable. Te?oros. http://journals.openedition.org/teoros/300, last accessed 27/05/2019.
Bianco, J. (2019). L’exode rural : un de?fi pose? aux pays en développement. Mouvement pour une organisation mondiale de l’agriculture (Momagri). http://www.momagri.org/FR/articles/L-exode-rural- un-defi-pose-aux-pays-en-developpement_162.html, last accessed 04/06/2019.
CommodAfrica. (2019). Financement du secteur agricole au Ghana : un gap de $40 millions. Ghana – Agriculture. Agro-Agri-Afrique de l’Ouest. http://www.commodafrica.com/03-04-2019-financement- du-secteur-agricole-au-ghana-un-gap-de-40-millions, last accessed 04/06/2019.
Sharpley, R. & Vass, A. (2006). Tourism, farming and diversification: an attitudinal study. Tourism Management. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517705001706?via%3Dihub,last accessed 04/06/2019.
Eshun, G., Tettey, C. (2014). Agrotourism development in Ghana: A study of its prospects and challenges at Adjeikrom Cocoa Tour Facility. In: Szyman?ska, D. and S?roda-Murawska, S. editors, Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, No. 25, Torun?: Nicolaus Copernicus University Press, pp. 81–99. Http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bog-2014-0031, last accessed 04/06/2019.
Van Niekerk, C. (2013). The benefits of agritourism: Two case studies in the Western Cape. Thesis, Stellenbosch University. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/80008, last accessed 04/06/2019.
Arroyo, G.,Barbieri, C., & Rozier, S. (2013). Defining agritourism: a comparative study of stakeholders’ perceptions in Missouri and N. Caro- lina. Tourism Management, Elsevier Ltd, Volume 37, pp. 39-47. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517712002427?via%3Dihub, last accessed 05/06/2019.