領導人於推展友善環境耕作的關鍵作用──以臺中市霧峰區為例

The Key Role of Leadership in Promoting Environmental Friendly Farming–The Case of Wufeng District in Taichung

友善環境耕作是一種不施用化學農藥、肥料及除草劑的農作方式，對於生態環境的維護極有助益。然此環境公共財難以藉由個別農民加以提供，必須透過地域內領導人動員居民以及利益相關者的協同自主參與，經由集體行動，始能有效供給。本文借鑒領導能力和集體行動文獻，以質性證據為基礎，藉由臺中市霧峰區農會經驗的考察，以探討地方領導人的關鍵作用。而農會設立之本旨在於增強農民的知識和技能，推動農業現代化，改善農民生計和發展農村經濟；這些目的能否達成，總幹事的領導能力則是成敗的關鍵所在。有鑑於健康農產品供應的重要性，霧峰區農會總幹事動員農民由慣行農法轉型為自然農法，近則配合政策改採友善環境耕作。為理解於推動友善環境耕作過程中領導人在集體行動的關鍵作用，本研究採用定性研究方法，並提出分析促成農法轉型的三個重要驅動因素：農會塑造願景並規劃誘因機制、農試所提供栽培技術、產銷班領導成功動員。主要研究成果有三：1.領導者的角色是啟動和維持集體行動結構的必要「經理人」與「中介人」；2.領導者尋求機會解決永續發展面臨的問題，應對合作和不確定性的挑戰；3.通過領導者推廣友善環境耕作的耕地面積正在迅速擴大，將自然農法或友善環境農法的產品轉化為優質清酒。儘管集體行動似已成功推進，惟領導人仍然需要應付來自外部環境的挑戰，因勢利導，追求永續發展。

"Environmental friendly farming is one of the farming method that practices without chemical matters, and has been verified that it is helpful to the environment. However,‘environmental public goods’is difficult to be provided by individual farmer. Such goods may be effectively supplied by means of collective action which is organized by regional residents and stakeholders who independently participate together. During the process of collective action, it would not be successful unless local leaders mobilizing farmers to actively participate. This paper reviews the literature of‘leadership’and‘collective action’and adopts qualitative materials and observation where are collected in Wufeng District Farmers’Association to explore the status of local leaders in central Taiwan. The targets of the establishment of the farmers’association aim to enhance farmers’knowledge and skills, promote agricultural modernization, improve farmers’livelihoods, and develop the rural economy. Whether these targets could be achieved or not, the leadership is the key to succeed. In light of the importance of the supply of healthy agri-products, the Director General of the Wufeng District Farmers’Association mobilized farmers to transform from conventional farming to environmental friendly farming. In order to understand the function of leadership toward collective action during the process of promoting environmental friendly farming, this study uses qualitative method and proposes three important driving factors for the transformation among different farming methods. They are: farmers’association gives environmental friendly farming prospect and plans incentive mechanism; Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute provides cultivation techniques support; and agriculture production and marketing group leads successful mobilization. The research findings are as follows: 1. The role of the leader is the necessary‘manager’and‘intermediary’who initiates and maintains the collective action; 2. The leaders seek opportunities to address the problems of sustainable development and address the challenges of cooperation and uncertainty; 3. By means of the leader’s advocacy, the farmland of environmental friendly farming is rapidly enlarging and the farmers’association transforms their rice as creative agri-products: rice wine. All in all, although the collective action dominated by leadership seems successfully, the leaders still need to cope with the challenges from the external environment and pursue toward sustainable development."