An Integration of Agricultural Practice with Tourism in Ethiopia: The Case of Lasta Woreda and Lalibela Town Administration
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Date
2021-10-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Agro-tourism constitutes part of alternative tourism which means that the practice of attracting visitors to an area used basically for agricultural purposes. Studies were done in Ethiopia without considering the symbiosis of agriculture and tourism to create marketing of farm products and services for provision of travel experiences to tourists. This study assessed the practices and way of integration for agro-tourism development in Lasta woreda and Lalibela town administration and its vicinity. In order to undertake the study descriptive research design and mixed research approaches were used. Primary and secondary data sources were used. From the 26 Lasta Kebele’s 5 kebele were selected purposively and 395 respondents from the sampling Kebele’s were taken. The internal consistency was analysed by Cronbach’s alpha and p>0.65 in all dimension. The major findings of the study revealed that lack of infrastructure, rare community awareness, lack of commitment of expert and farmer, less product diversification, financial constraints and lack of entrepreneurial behaviour were some of the limitations for agro-tourism development. From agro-tourism practice, educational and entertainment experiences have large correlations r=.548 and statistically significant. No relations between entertainment and outdoor recreation and is not statistically significant. Entertainment and hospitality service practices were statistically correlated (r=.321, p <.001). The practices of agro-tourism were very low and differ from kebele to kebele. From the outdoor recreation except horse-riding, hunting and wildlife activities were statistically significant differences in kebeles (p <0.05). Entertainment practices were also statistically significant difference within kebeles. The integration of agriculture and tourism were very low due to low commitment of farmers and expert, low promotion by concerned bodies, low motivation. The challenge of agro-tourism has statistically significant effect on the educational practice of agro tourism (p <0.05 p=0.012). Creating awareness, adopting alternative income generation mechanisms, commitment of experts and farmers, avoiding financial constraints, increasing product diversification and expanding infrastructure were some of the suggestions.
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Keywords
Agro-tourism, Integration, Potential, Practice