A study on the CSA union of farmer cooperative development in Shan-Gou village, Yi-Lan County, Taiwan
Chih Hsuan LI, Kazuo ASAHIRO
Landscape Research Japan Online
Urban Farm DB summary
A study of the community-supported agriculture (CSA) cooperative in Shan-Gou village, Yi-Lan County, Taiwan, which by 2016 accounted for 26% of Taiwan's 91 CSA farms. The study analyses the cooperative's comprehensive operations through interviews with CSA farm owners on cooperative management features and a financial report analysis of cooperative salary, funding sources, and the proportion of production expenditure. Results show the Shan-Gou CSA cooperative's annual salary was 1,057,000 NT$/ha, compared with an average of 690,000 NT$/ha for conventional modern agriculture in Yi-Lan County; Shan-Gou village has 24 CSA farmers with total farmland of 75.2 ha, and Shan-Gou CSA farmers' average farmland (3.5 ha) is larger than the average for Yi-Lan County's organic rice farmers (2.5 ha). Based on a 5 ha farmland premise, estimated annual income was 3,450,000 NT$ for a modern farmer versus 5,285,000 NT$ for a Shan-Gou CSA farmer, indicating higher income for Shan-Gou CSA farmers than for conventional modern farming. By December 2016, 35 farmers had relocated to Shan-Gou village, Yi-Lan County.