TITLE:
Strawberry Picking as an Agritourism Activity at Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania
AUTHORS:
Agnes A. Sirima
KEYWORDS:
Agritourism, Rural Tourism, Uluguru Mountains, Farm Tourism
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.11 No.7,
July
26,
2023
ABSTRACT: Agritourism has the potential to link agriculture with culture and
tourism, as an alternative form of tourism in rural areas. Despite contributing
to the local economic growth, agritourism can significantly contribute to the
growth of the national income as well. This study was conducted along the
Uluguru Mountains, Morogoro region with the aim to assess the prospects of
agritourism development as a key factor to the growth and sustenance of rural
economy. This qualitative research adopted an exploratory method of inquiry
where interviews were conducted to individuals growing strawberries along the
Ulurugu Mountain. A total of 14 strawberry farmers were involved. Data
saturation was used as a cut-off point during data collection. Secondary data
were collected from various sources to gain insights and relevant information
regarding farm tourism, specifically agritourism practices. Content analysis
was performed to categorize ideas and generate patterns. Results indicate that,
Uluguru Mountains has fertile agricultural land that supports growth of varieties of crops (mostly vegetables and fruits).
Specifically, strawberry farming has a great potential to develop
agritourism along the Uluguru Mountain as it is unique agricultural practice.
Similarly, strawberry farming tours present diverse
opportunities for the communities to generate additional income. However, many challenges prevent the same. Farmers lack of skills to combine strawberry
farming with tourism activities; lack
of awareness, limited accessibility of farm sites and poor marketing of the
products are major drawbacks of agritourism development in the area. It is
therefore important to train farmers to promote agritourism without displacing
the key activity of food production, as well as developing entrepreneur skills
among the farmers to attract larger markets. Furthermore, regional coordination
as well as forging partnership among stakeholders along the strawberry value
chain is important to develop and sustain agritourism in the area.