Host: The Association of Japanese Geographers
This presentation examines development of the agriculture-commerce-industry collaboration in Tanabe, Wakayama, from a viewpoint of regional community development. Farmers, food processors and the local government have been collaborating to develop daidai (“bitter orange”) as a local speciality product for the past two years. It is hoped that this project will contribute to meeting the challenges of this region, both of rural and urban areas, such as abandoned cultivated lands and hollowing-out of the city center. This report clarifies the trajectory and the present situation of the project, and discusses the possibilities that this effort can address the above regional challenges.