As explained in the access dimension, food will be easier to obtain if people have decent jobs to generate sufficient income or people have other resources to obtain food. This is one of the roles of the existence of agrotourism, people who have the main job as farmers can increase their income by making their agricultural land a tourism site. Agricultural land used does not have to be in the form of rice fields, but can be in the form of gardens, ponds, greenhouses and others. Communities can work together to form village-scale agrotourism if they own land that can be used. They can open educational tours related to agriculture and farming practices. The existence of this agrotourism can not only increase income but also create jobs for the community. Due to increased income through agrotourism, food security will be achieved. In fact, not only can people access healthy food, but also can achieve food diversification. With food diversification, the risk of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight can be reduced.Â
One of the most common problems in generating income for governments and local communities is deforestation, which is usually done to fulfill needs, either by making furniture or building settlements that require large tracts of land. This decision is often made because it is a significant source of income for the government through taxes and employment for local communities. Deforestation does have positive impacts, but it also has the potential to weaken government and community oversight and regulation of forest area protection. This will result in large amounts of deforestation by many parties, making forest growth unable to keep up with logging.Â
Excessive deforestation can lead to natural imbalances because the function of forests as habitats and environmental regulators decreases or even disappears. There will be many animal species that become extinct due to habitat loss, or due to predator attacks that prey on them. In addition, the function of providing human needs such as food and medicine will also be affected. This will make it difficult for local residents when they need food or medicinal plants. Based on data from the Badan Pusat Statistik of Indonesia in 2024, Indonesia's net deforestation in 2021-2022 reached 104 thousand hectare. This figure is quite large considering that Indonesia's forest area in 2021 was 1 million hectare (BPS, 2022).
If left unchecked, more forests will be lost while there are other safer and less damaging ways to generate income for the government and local communities such as agrotourism. Agrotourism only requires a small amount of land for tourist support facilities such as toilets, camping grounds, outbound facilities, and other facilities that only require a small amount of land compared to logging forests for housing and furniture construction. In terms of income, agrotourism is able to provide promising income because tourism is currently one of the people needs, with the number of nature tourism enthusiasts continuously increasing. Tourism management also requires workers, so that local people can have permanent jobs. In addition, the existence of tourism opens up opportunities for local communities to become entrepreneurs around the tourist area. The existence of agrotourism also does not rule out the possibility of making people aware of the importance of protecting the environment because of the benefits it has, the management of tourism can open educational attractions for visitors related to the importance of the existence of nature. Agrotourism through attractions and low deforestation certainly helps preserve the environment.
Conclusion
Although agrotourism has the potential to have a positive impact on economic growth, food security, and environmental sustainability, because the majority of agrotourism is located in rural areas, there is a need for good access and transportation to reach these agrotourism sites. Collaboration and synergy between the government and the community need to be improved so that the concept of agrotourism can be truly realized.
Agrotourism does have a very positive impact, it can even be a medium of cultural exchange. However, it should be noted that if the synergy between the government and local communities is not realized, it is possible that conflicts between foreign tourists and local communities will occur, which can damage the image of Indonesia and the image of tourism management.
Reference
BPS, Badan Pusat Statistik, 2024. Angka Deforestasi (Netto) Indonesia di Dalam dan di Luar Kawasan Hutan Tahun 2013-2022 (Ha/Th) - Tabel Statistik. URL https://www.bps.go.id/id/statistics-table/1/MjA4MSMx/angka-deforestasi--netto--indonesia-di-dalam-dan-di-luar-kawasan-hutan-tahun-2013-2022--ha-th-.html (accessed 8.1.24).
BPS, Badan Pusat Statistik, 2022. Badan Pusat Statistik Provinsi Lampung. URL https://lampung.bps.go.id/indicator/60/211/1/luas-kawasan-hutan-menurut-fungsinya.html (accessed 8.1.24).
