Cooperation with welfare
Sharing tending work with elderly people and those who find work hard
By breaking tasks into small steps, the farm becomes a place of work and social participation for elderly and disabled people and others who find employment hard. Social farming pairs naturally with public programmes.
274 related cases
Cases where this shows up
Minamitaka Airinkai Agriculture-Welfare Partnership
JPIsahaya, Nagasaki, Japan
An agriculture-welfare initiative by the social-welfare corporation Minamitaka Airinkai, based in Isahaya, Nagasaki, linking with farming on the Shimabara Peninsula. People with disabilities help with planting, harvesting and shipping, gaining confidence and purpose while supporting agriculture facing labour shortages.
airinkai.or.jp+3
Furin Co., Ltd. (Agriculture-Welfare Collaboration)
JPHigashinaruse, Akita, Japan
Furin Co., a senior-care provider in Higashinaruse, Akita, has since 2013 run an agriculture-welfare program in which day-service users join planting and harvesting on nearby paddies. Users averaging 88 take meaningful roles in the work, and the harvested rice is sent to supporters.
higashinaruse.jp+3
Suginami Agriculture-Welfare Farm (Suginoko Farm)
JPSuginami, Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo's first municipally run agriculture-welfare farm, opened April 2021 in Igusa, Suginami, on a barrier-free 3,200 m2 site giving people with disabilities and seniors a place to engage in farming.
city.suginami.tokyo.jp+1
Sansan Yamashiro Employment Support Workshop
JPKyotanabe, Kyoto, Japan
A Kyotanabe employment-support workshop operating since 2011 that grows regional specialties (Uji tea, Tanabe eggplant, Kyoto taro) and became one of the first Noufuku JAS certified businesses in 2019.
maff.go.jp+3
Yamaguchi Agriculture-Welfare Collaboration (model-area program)
JPYamaguchi, Yamaguchi, Japan
Yamaguchi Prefecture promotes agriculture-welfare collaboration, piloting contracted farm work in the model areas of Ube, Yamaguchi, Nagato and Shunan. By having disability-employment facilities take part in farming, it seeks both improved wages and purpose for participants and relief from local labor shortages and abandoned-farmland problems.
pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp+1
SECUF - Social Enterprise Community Urban Farms (Singapore)
SGSingapore, Singapore
SECUF in Singapore: gardening hubs bringing communities together through edibles gardening and curated horticulture programs. The SECUF Grant encourages social enterprises to establish and operate Community Urban Farms, conducting programs for seniors, persons with disabilities, and low-income groups. Singapore has 1,500+ community gardens and 2,500+ allotment plots across 29 parks. Next allotment garden application window in Q4 2026.
gardeningsg.nparks.gov.sg+1
Supporting research
Effect of horticultural therapy on apathy in nursing home residents with dementia: a pilot randomized controlled trial
A pilot randomized controlled trial allocating 32 nursing home residents with dementia to horticultural therapy or control. Post-intervention, between-group differences in apathy (Apathy Evaluation Scale) and cognition (MMSE) were statistically significant, indicating horticultural therapy may improve apathy in older people with dementia. It supports embedding gardening in elderly welfare and dementia-care programmes.
Yang Y., Kwan R.Y.C., Zhai H.M. et al. · 2022 · Aging & Mental Health, 26(4):745-753
農福連携をめぐる情勢（令和8年8月）
MAFF's compendium on noufuku renkei (agriculture-welfare linkage): its current state, policies and cases. Defines it as work that builds confidence and purpose for people with disabilities through agriculture, and documents its widening scope to older people, those in economic hardship, people experiencing social withdrawal, and offender rehabilitation. Includes farm-workforce trends, disability population and employment figures, and cases of welfare providers entering farming.
· 2026 · 農林水産省 農村振興局 農村政策部 都市農村交流課
農福連携等推進ビジョン（2024改訂版）
Government vision (2019, revised 2024) promoting noufuku—agriculture-welfare collaboration enabling people with disabilities to participate in society through farming—as national policy, covering awareness, training, facility support, and market expansion via certification.
· 2024 · 農福連携等推進会議（内閣官房）
ノウフクJAS（障害者が生産行程に携わった食品の日本農林規格）
Materials on the 2019 Noufuku JAS standard certifying foods and ornamental plants produced with the involvement of people with disabilities, raising trust and brand value for agriculture-welfare products via third-party certification; first certifications issued November 2019.
· 2019 · 農林水産省