The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has begun discussing a legal framework so that the government could issue an emergency order to farmers and foodstuff manufacturers to produce, for instance, tubers and roots, or could restrict logistics of goods in order to prepare for contingencies when food import might be disturbed due to a war and global poor harvest.
ANACHRONISTIC ARRANGEMENT OF LAWS, FOR WHAT?
Government orders horticultural farmers to crop rice
Reportedly, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is planned to present bills to the 2024 ordinary session of the Diet, a draft on a ‘basic act on foodstuff, agriculture and rural areas’; this means legislation that should allow the authorities to command (force) farmers and private foodstuff producers to increase food production to safeguard food security. The ministry will set new, numerical targets for self-sufficiency and procurement of fertilizers and feedstuff, which Japan heavily depends on import.
Phrases like a decree to increase food production, foodstuff security, and a rationing system remind many people in the country of the dark days of the last war. In fact, many are surprised to find newspaper articles which include those expressions. They say that the government will review existing laws so that the authority ‘could announce (enforce) horticulturists to produce rice and potatoes, and it could control prices and introduce a rationing program’.
The sensation actually makes fun of agricultural producers. Because it was the government itself and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as well as the Ministry that commended reductions of rice fields and liberalization of import. Thus, farmers have been compelled to stop producing cultivated goods and livestock products.
Consequently enough, since the year 1960 the food self-sufficiency rate has been declining to 37%, a fall by 33%, which ranks the lowest of the industrially advanced nations. Currently, the number of farms counts 2 million, decreasing from 3.4 million, with the working population in the agricultural sector of 1.63 million. In total 13 million people have left the farming sector.
Agriculture in Japan suffers from impossibility of ‘sustainable development’ at the moment due to lack of succeeding workforce, abandoned cultivated lands and growing damages caused by wild animals. Nevertheless, the government is going to punish farmers unless they observe laws, which will obligate them to select crops in accordance with the mandate.
Raise self-sufficiency rate of foodstuff!
This kind of arbitrary decree cannot be accepted. It is the Ministry and the LDP that must be punished. Their duties do not lie in enacting anachronistic laws, but in making the best efforts to heighten the self-sufficiency rate of foodstuff: the government must guarantee safe food and stable agricultural development and protect people living in rural areas by boosting a production and consumption practice that relies on within-locality and domestic production. It must encourage the Japanese dietary lifestyle throughout the country.
In addition, the authorities must work on the Green Strategy on Foodstuff System by way of implementing the policies below across the nation so as to reach a carbon-neutral stage by the year 2050;
To increase up to 1 million hectares of land for organic agriculture,
A decreased use of agricultural chemicals by 50%,
A reduction of chemical fertilizer by 30%, and
A reduction of food waste by 50%.
Moreover, the government should elaborate and improve the current program of ‘direct income compensation and official payment for environment’ to farmers who work in the mountainous areas and protect environment.
The government must not impose, taking advantage of today’s cheap Yen appreciation and the crisis in Ukraine, a compulsory program (a legal system) to prepare for warfare under the constitution system which renounces a war and provides non-armed neutrality. The government’s incentive will never be accepted.
花農家にコメ作れ
政府・農水省は、食料安全保障のために輸入依存度が高い肥料や飼料などの自給や調達に関する数値目標を新たに設けて、農産物の増産を農家や民間事業者に命令（強制）することができるよう、「食料、農業、農村基本法」の改定案を24年の通常国会に提出する方針という。
食糧増産命令、 食糧安保、配給制など戦時中を思わせる言葉が躍る新聞報道を見て驚いた人も多いだろう。報道では、「花農家にコメやイモを作るよう命令（強制）」できるようにし、価格統制や配給制も視野に検討するなどとしている。
しかし、これほど農家・農業者を馬鹿にした話はない。なぜなら減反や輸入自由化で農畜産物を作らせてこなかったのは、ほかならぬ政府・農水省・自民党だからである。
その結果、食料自給率は１９６０年から33％も低下して37％と「先進国」の中でも最低となり、農家は３４０万戸が離農して現在２００万戸、農業就業者は１３００万人も農業から離れ、現在は１６３万人となった。
日本農業は後継者不足と耕作放棄地、獣害などの拡大によって今や「持続可能性」を危惧されるに事態に陥っている。それにもかかわらず、今度は農業生産（物）を強制する法律を作り、従わなければ罰するという。
自給率こそ上げよ
このような理不尽は絶対に許されない。罰せられるべきは、農水省・自民党ではないのか。
政府・農水省が今なすべきことは、時代錯誤の法律を作ることではなく、安全・安心な食と農、そして農村を守るために地産地消・国産国消、日本型食生活の普及を図り、食料自給率の向上に全力を上げることである。
また、２０５０年カーボンニュートラルの実現へ、①有機農業１００万ha実現、②農薬50％低減、③化学肥料30％低減、④食品ロス50％削減を柱とする「みどりの食料システム戦略」を全国に定着させることである。
さらに、中山間地農業や環境を守る農家への「直接所得補償や環境支払い」を充実、発展させていくことである。
円安やウクライナ戦争に便乗し、非武装・平和憲法下で戦争準備のための強制的農業生産体制（法整備）など絶対認められないのである。
英訳版↓
No. 1310 Decree to Increase Food Production
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has begun discussing a legal framework so that the government could issue an emergency order to farmers and foodstuff manufacturers to produce, for instance, tubers and roots, or could restrict logistics of goods in order to prepare for contingencies when food import might be disturbed due to a war and global poor harvest.
ANACHRONISTIC ARRANGEMENT OF LAWS, FOR WHAT?
Government orders horticultural farmers to crop rice
Reportedly, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is planned to present bills to the 2024 ordinary session of the Diet, a draft on a ‘basic act on foodstuff, agriculture and rural areas’; this means legislation that should allow the authorities to command (force) farmers and private foodstuff producers to increase food production to safeguard food security. The ministry will set new, numerical targets for self-sufficiency and procurement of fertilizers and feedstuff, which Japan heavily depends on import.
Phrases like a decree to increase food production, foodstuff security, and a rationing system remind many people in the country of the dark days of the last war. In fact, many are surprised to find newspaper articles which include those expressions. They say that the government will review existing laws so that the authority ‘could announce (enforce) horticulturists to produce rice and potatoes, and it could control prices and introduce a rationing program’.
The sensation actually makes fun of agricultural producers. Because it was the government itself and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as well as the Ministry that commended reductions of rice fields and liberalization of import. Thus, farmers have been compelled to stop producing cultivated goods and livestock products.
Consequently enough, since the year 1960 the food self-sufficiency rate has been declining to 37%, a fall by 33%, which ranks the lowest of the industrially advanced nations. Currently, the number of farms counts 2 million, decreasing from 3.4 million, with the working population in the agricultural sector of 1.63 million. In total 13 million people have left the farming sector.
Agriculture in Japan suffers from impossibility of ‘sustainable development’ at the moment due to lack of succeeding workforce, abandoned cultivated lands and growing damages caused by wild animals. Nevertheless, the government is going to punish farmers unless they observe laws, which will obligate them to select crops in accordance with the mandate.
Raise self-sufficiency rate of foodstuff!
This kind of arbitrary decree cannot be accepted. It is the Ministry and the LDP that must be punished. Their duties do not lie in enacting anachronistic laws, but in making the best efforts to heighten the self-sufficiency rate of foodstuff: the government must guarantee safe food and stable agricultural development and protect people living in rural areas by boosting a production and consumption practice that relies on within-locality and domestic production. It must encourage the Japanese dietary lifestyle throughout the country.
In addition, the authorities must work on the Green Strategy on Foodstuff System by way of implementing the policies below across the nation so as to reach a carbon-neutral stage by the year 2050;
Moreover, the government should elaborate and improve the current program of ‘direct income compensation and official payment for environment’ to farmers who work in the mountainous areas and protect environment.
The government must not impose, taking advantage of today’s cheap Yen appreciation and the crisis in Ukraine, a compulsory program (a legal system) to prepare for warfare under the constitution system which renounces a war and provides non-armed neutrality. The government’s incentive will never be accepted.
June 14, 2023