Successes and challenges of a university-based agroecological community garden and educational program in Japan

Abstract

The growing problems associated with industrial agriculture have led to a greater recognition of the significance of alternative agriculture beyond Anglophone and European countries. This article explores Utsunomiya University’s Eco-programs, which combine a pesticide-free and synthetic fertilizer-free community garden with an educa­tional lecture and activity series. It draws on ethno­graphic data from interviews and participant obser­vation, as well as document and archival analysis. Based on our findings, we argue that tensions emerge between the initial agroecological goals with which the Eco-programs were established and other institutional goals pursued at the university. Despite these tensions, the Eco-programs create an important space for participants to encounter and explore agroecological gardening. They also pro­vide an informative example of a transdisciplinary alternative agricultural initiative in Japan. We stress the importance of recognizing the contexts in which alternative agricultural initiatives emerge, and the reality that conflicts often arise because alternative agricultural goals differ from the goals of the markets, states, and bureaucracies in which they operate.