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Type : Other Article

Measuring the Potential of Agri-tourism Development in Rural Nigeria - An Exploratory Study

Augustine Udoh

Abstract

Nigeria is a country endowed with agricultural resources and that is the reason with the green represented in the national flag. The purpose of this work is to assess the potentials of Agri-tourism in the southeastern zone of Nigeria. To achieve this goal, qualitative research methods were used including documentations reviews, oral surveys, semi – structured interviews, participant observation and focus group techniques to collect data from 500 participants randomly selected from 15 communities, which were randomly selected from 45 communities in the study area. The study reveals that there are various farm products in the area that require more consumers. Therefore, if Agri-tourism is developed many farm owners will depend more on diversifying farm operations to include services and products like flowers, fish, pure honey, farm crafts, fruits, vegetables and sales of live chicken and livestock will start to thrive. Beside foods, fruits and flowers, the sale of native costumes and textiles which many rural areas exhibit during agricultural festivals will become a potential to boost the rural economy. Therefore, the study calls for a blue-print to consolidate the resources available to promote Agri-tourism development in rural Nigeria.

Keyword: Nigeria; Agricultural resources; Agri-tourism; Documentations; Diversifying farm operations;

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