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Traditional Farming and Sustainable Development of an Indigenous Community in the Mountain Area—A Case Study of Wutai Village in Taiwan

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  • Qing-Xiong Ba

    (Department of Agronomy, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan)

  • Dau-Jye Lu

    (School of Forestry & Resource Conservation, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan)

  • Warren Hwa-Jen Kuo

    (Department of Agronomy, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan)

  • Po-Hsin Lai

    (Newcastle Business School, The University of Newcastle, 409 Hunter Street, Newcastle NSW 2300, Australia)

Abstract

The present study aimed to explore traditional farming and its role in sustainable development of the mountainous area based on the indigenous community of Wutai in Taiwan as a case study. It adopted qualitative methods with an ethnographic orientation, to conduct in-depth interviews, participant observation, and focus groups as an integral component of public participation geographic information system (PPGIS), and aerial photo analysis to collect and analyze field data, mainly in 2013 and 2017. The results revealed the continuation of traditional farming practices guided by the traditional farming calendar and characterized by mixed cropping, inter cropping, and rotation, which optimized the use of limited arable lands in the area. These practices also contributed to maximizing and securing local food supply, and maintaining endemic crop varieties. The results suggested that traditional farming offered a way to overcome the limitation of modern agriculture and support ecotourism as a sustainable alternative to mass tourism, by preserving crop diversity, social institutions and cultural traditions, and stabilizing the local environment. Furthermore, our findings showed that traditional farming, in keeping with local capacity, was adaptable to the impacts of climate change. In the last two decades, a returning tide of young residents and retired people involved in traditional farming might play a key role in the slowing down of the loss of agricultural lands in Wutai, influenced by the fashion of healthy foods and environments, as well as development of local ecotourism industry. Learned from this study, while there would be some opportunity for traditional farming to be recognized as one of the key components to promote the sustainable development of indigenous villages in mountain areas, more policy incentives might be considered.

Suggested Citation

  • Qing-Xiong Ba & Dau-Jye Lu & Warren Hwa-Jen Kuo & Po-Hsin Lai, 2018. "Traditional Farming and Sustainable Development of an Indigenous Community in the Mountain Area—A Case Study of Wutai Village in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-16, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3370-:d:171152
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jodha, Narpat S., 2009. "Mountain Agriculture: Development Policies and Perspectives," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 64(1), pages 1-14.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Rosyi Damayanti T. Manningtyas & Katsunori Furuya, 2022. "Traditional Ecological Knowledge versus Ecological Wisdom: Are They Dissimilar in Cultural Landscape Research?," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, July.
    2. Mucahid Mustafa Bayrak & Yi-Ya Hsu & Li-San Hung & Huei-Min Tsai & tibusungu ‘e vayayana, 2020. "Global Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan: A Critical Bibliometric Analysis and Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-27, December.
    3. Jessica E. Taylor & Cristina Poleacovschi & Michael A. Perez, 2023. "Climate change adaptation trends among Indigenous peoples: a systematic review of the empirical research focus over the last 2 decades," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 28(6), pages 1-28, August.
    4. Martina Slámová & Ingrid Belčáková, 2019. "The Role of Small Farm Activities for the Sustainable Management of Agricultural Landscapes: Case Studies from Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-22, October.
    5. Portia Adade Williams & Likho Sikutshwa & Sheona Shackleton, 2020. "Acknowledging Indigenous and Local Knowledge to Facilitate Collaboration in Landscape Approaches—Lessons from a Systematic Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-17, September.
    6. Fikret Berkes & Huei-Min Tsai & Mucahid Mustafa Bayrak & Yih-Ren Lin, 2021. "Indigenous Resilience to Disasters in Taiwan and Beyond," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, February.
    7. John Franklin Harrison & Chih-Hua Chang, 2019. "Sustainable Management of a Mountain Community Vulnerable to Geohazards: A Case Study of Maolin District, Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Qindong Fan & Fengtian Du & Hu Li, 2020. "A Study of the Spatial Form of Maling Village, Henan, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-24, September.
    9. Paichi Pat Shein & Peresang Sukinarhimi, 2022. "Taboos as a Social Mechanism Keeping the Human-Nature Balance: Core Values and Practices of Rukai Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Water," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, February.
    10. Huizhao Yang & Sailesh Ranjitkar & Deli Zhai & Micai Zhong & Stefanie Daniela Goldberg & Muhammad Asad Salim & Zhenghong Wang & Yi Jiang & Jianchu Xu, 2019. "Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Seasonal Calendars in the Context of Climate Change: A Case Study from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-22, June.

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