Perspective for regional agriculture in urban areas through establishing new social evaluation standards for regional resources' use and relationship marketing

This paper aims at forecasting the future of regional agriculture in urban areas of Japan from the present advanced movements of them. Based on case studies for advanced movements of regional agriculture in urban areas, three points are important to establish new social evaluation standards for regional resources' use and relationship marketing, as follows. 1. Farmers under practice in sustainable agriculture are rapidly increased. Mainly they record farming practices and open this information to the public. A part of them use organic or various eco-labels for agricultural marketing. Therefore, they regard social evaluation for their products and regional agriculture as important. 2. Many farmers' groups are promoting multifunctionality of regional agriculture which provides beautiful landscape, natural habitats, and recreational experiences in rural areas. These regional resources attract urban residents (consumers). To manage them suitably and use them for relationship marketing, farmers' groups establish new social evaluation standards for rural resources' use to promote multifunctionality that work in the interest of the public. 3. Many urban residents are participating in various interactions between urban and rural communities. Urban residents experience a part of agriculture and rural life with rural residents as instructors in these interactions. Consequently, urban residents (consumers) understand the social evaluation standards of rural residents (farmers), and come to buy branded agricultural products from them. Farmers' groups which practice sustainable agriculture, promote multifunctionality, and participate in interactions between urban and rural communities jointly, tend to establish new social evaluation standards for regional resources' use from promotion of strategic multifunctional activity, and get consumers to recognize the new standard. In this case, the new standard gives consumers a good image of their agricultural products and regional agriculture. Their agricultural products can get premium price through direct relationship marketing.