The impacts of farm shops on enhancing community well-being in rural areas (Kalmar Case Study)

Abstract: To attract visitors to stay and enjoy the rural landscapes and reduce out-migration to cities, there is a need to enhance practices and policies to boost rural community well-being. Community well-being is about residents' feeling of satisfaction with their local place with considering the social and physical environment, the services, and facilities regarding place attachment (Forjaz et al., 2011; McCrea et al., 2015). In this study, the extent to which farm shops as agriculture diversification strategies impact the community well-being in rural areas is investigated. Kalmar Län, the southern county in Sweden, is the chosen case study to learn more about the subject. For this research, eight interviews were conducted with farmers, and data were analyzed with thematic analysis.  Findings of this study indicate that farm shop owners' motivation to start and continue their activities is not limited to financial incentives, and there are other influential factors that encourage farmers to start and continue their farm shop businesses. Moreover, Farmers in Kalmar County are working as a network and feel connected with one other in varied ways. Furthermore, the direct impacts of farm shops on health and nature were expressed by farmers as well. According to the farmers, these shops impact society by providing spaces for social interaction, which is a critical performance of farm shops. And all these factors increase the feeling of attachment to the place for both farmers and visitors and motivate visitors to visit farm shops more often and encourage farmers to continue their activities in the rural area, and consequently enhance the well-being of community in the rural regions.