Applied issues of agritourism cooperation and sustainable endogenous development

American Journal of Applied Sciences, Nov, 2008 by Helen Theodoropoulou, Roido Mitoula, Olga Astara, Panagiotis Kaldis

INTRODUCTION

The term development denotes the pursuit or the realization of improving the socioeconomic status of people. Local development is the promotion of all economic activities, in which a place presents some advantages, as well as the exploitation of all its wealth-producing sources (1), (3), (4). The main objective of local economic development is to create local opportunities of employment in sectors that contribute to the improvement of local community, using existing human and natural resources. This means that local actors (organisations, institutions, local enterprises, local business initiatives), are the basic levers of development. Thus, local productivity, traditions and cultural heritage are developed supporting the economic enlargement and the improvement of quality of life of the local people (5), (13), (15). Sustainability denotes that all these factors are continuously maintained in the present and the future without a deterioration of the quality of life.

Therefore, the endogenous sustainable development aims to develop the territorial advantages of a region but also every activity that takes place with the initiative of the local population (11), (14). According to Barquero the endogenous local sustainable development could be a suitable developmental process, in combination with the activation of available resources of a region and its endogenous capacity. This process of economic development and structural change leads to an improvement of the level of life of the local population, which has at least, three dimensions: the economic, the social-cultural and the political-administrative (1), (7), (9).

Undeniably, the planning and implementation of a policy of local development are not easy. Available experience indicates that many plans were developed thanks to the capabilities of local businessmen who undertook the initiative and the management of the new plans by undertaking enterprising risks (10).

In this frame, the present study explores whether a local enterprise and more specifically the Agritourism Cooperative of Women of Zagora in Greece can serve as an institution of endogenous viable local development and what are the characteristics and actors that contribute to this goal. Therefore, the aim of this research, taking as a case in point the achieved effort of the Agritourism Cooperative of Women of Zagora, is to lead to certain conclusions and proposals for how endogenous sustainable development can be a serious alternative, that respects natural and human resources and constitutes a more permanent solution in the problem of unemployment than occurs in most local situations.

In order to accomplish the above aim, information and data on the characteristics of the region and the socioeconomic characteristics of its residents were collected by contacting the chairman of the cooperative under study. Subsequently, an empirical approach was drawn through a questionnaire based interview with the chairman of the cooperative. Also, descriptive statistics on socioeconomic characteristics of the members of cooperative were used to profile the composition of the cooperative. Finally, based on all the above collected information conclusions were drawn on achieving sustainable endogenous development in the frame of local enterprising initiatives.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study area: Zagora constitutes the biggest village of Mountain Pilion in Central Greece with a population of 2636 residents (8). With regard to the employment of the population in Zagora, economically active are 943, economically not active 1389, unemployed 30, new unemployed 16 and occupied 913 (12). The morphology of the region is mountainous with the largest percentage of the area covered by cultivated land and forests. The morphology of the region leads the largest percentage of residents to the agricultural sector. Finally concerning the road network, Zagora is connected with the greater region via a two way paved road (12).

In the study area local businesses are an essential component of endogenous development. The possibilities of endogenous development result from the availability of local enterprising resources, capable of exploiting local production factors and at the same time to sustain them for the future and to protect the natural and social environment (1). What is however the origin and the starting line of these local businessmen? How are they created? The origin of businessmen varies also and is always connected with local production activities (16). Every time a businessman or a group of businessmen in the region achieves their plans and they are successful, then other enterprises try to imitate them.

In order to overcome the difficulties facing householders-businessmen in the management of local enterprises, it is necessary to establish educational programs that can encourage local enterprising activities and facilitate the growth of enterprises and their consolidation with the beneficial results that this produces. The need for education and training on business issues dexterity is imperative since the educational level of residents is low.