The Failure of Cooperative Farming Development Policies in Tōhoku, Japan

doi:10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2016.02.009

Journal of Resources and Ecology ›› 2016, Vol. 7 ›› Issue (2): 137-143.DOI: 10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2016.02.009

• Reports • Previous Articles Next Articles

The Failure of Cooperative Farming Development Policies in Tōhoku, Japan

MIYAKE Yoshitaka^*

Department of Geography, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA

Received:2015-08-17 Revised:2016-01-05 Online:2016-04-12 Published:2016-04-12
Contact: * E-mail: yoshitaka.miyake.japan@gmail.com
Supported by:
The Center for Japanese Studies at the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa funded this research

Abstract

Abstract:

In the context of agricultural globalization, many national governments have instituted policies, such as cooperative farming, to help farmers improve their profitability, competitiveness, and the sustainability of their agricultural practices. This study focused on the Multi-Product Management Stabilization Plan developed in Japan in 2006, which aimed to adapt the agricultural practices in the country to globalization by focusing on cooperative farming, and assessed its effectiveness for developing and incorporating cooperative farming in the Tōhoku region in the 2000s. The results suggest that regional and prefectural agents experienced significant difficulties when attempting to develop cooperative farming. Although New Institutional Economics’ theories suggest that these policies reflect the norms for developing agriculture more profitably and competitively, Japanese farmers did not regard the policies as relevant, practical, or sustainable, and they obstructed them.

MIYAKE Yoshitaka. The Failure of Cooperative Farming Development Policies in Tōhoku, Japan[J]. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2016, 7(2): 137-143.

References

1 Arcas N, D García, I Guzmán. 2011. Effect of size on performance of Spanish agricultural cooperatives. Outlook Agric , 40(3): 201-206.
2 Burmeister L L. 2000. Dismantling statist East Asian agricultures? Global pressures and national responses. World Dev , 28(3): 443-445.
3 Chūnichi Shimbun. 2007. Emergency measures to buy surplus rice: The dramatic review of agricultural policy reform (in Japanese). http://www.chunichi.co.jp/s/article/2007101601000732.html.
4 Etzold B, S Julich, M Keck, et al. 2012. Doing institutions. A dialectic reading of institutions and social practices and its relevance for development geography. Erdkunde, 66(3): 185-195.
5 Fukui Shimbun. 2013. The LDP pledges to increase the income of agricultural households by 50%; Measures to develop agriculture against an upper house election and TPP (in Japanese). http://www.fukuishimbun. co.jp/nationalnews/CO/economics/693236.html.
6 Hattori S. 2010. The Change of Rice Policy: Rounding Up Rice Policy and Examining “The Policy to Supplement Individual Income” of the Democratic Party (in Japanese). Tokyo: Nōrin Tokei Kyōkai.
7 Iliopoulos C, V Valentinov. 2012. Opportunism in agricultural cooperatives in Greece. Outlook Agri , 41(1): 15-19.
8 Isoda H, T Takatake, TT Murata (eds.). 2006. The New Basic Plan and the Prospect of Rice Agriculture: Rice Agriculture in Northern Kyūshū and “Agricultural Policy toward Structural Reform ” (in Japanese). Tokyo: Tsukuba Shobō.
9 Japan GIS Datasets V2. n.d. Japan GIS datasets V2. http://www.fas.harvard. edu/~chgis/japan/datasets.html.
10 Kei’eikyoku. 2008. The point to establish the Convention for the Comprehensive Support to Develop Core Farmers (in Japanese). Tokyo: MAFF. http://www.nefam.jp/doc/080512_4.pdf.
11 Laurence G, C Richards, K Lyons. 2013. Food security in Australia in an era of neoliberalism, productivism and climate change. J Rural Stud, 29: 30-39.
12 MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery). 2007a. (11th.). The Points of The Multi-Product Management Stabilization Plan (in Japanese). Tokyo: MAFF.
13 MAFF. 2007b. The situation of application for the Multi-Product Income Stabilization Plan in the Hei’sei 19 (in Japanese). http://www.maff.go. jp/j/kobetu_ninaite/keiei/pdf/state.pdf.
14 MAFF. 2012. 2010 World Census of Agriculture and Forestry in Japan. Tokyo: MAFF.
15 MAFF. 2013. The Survey on the Actual Conditions of Cooperative Farming (in Japanese). Tokyo: MAFF.
16 MAFF. 2014. Statistics on Agricultural Products (in Japanese). Tokyo: MAFF.
17 MAFF. n.d. The policy to support the action of core farmers (in Japanese). http://www.maff.go.jp/j/ninaite/n_zigyo/action_support/index.html.
18 Moragues-Faus A M, D Ortiz-Miranda. 2012. Governing cooperative quality schemes lessons from olive oil initiatives in Valencia (Spain). Outlook Agri , 41(1): 27-33.
19 SankeiBiz. 2014. Strong agriculture: The 2013 Agricultural White Paper about land consolidation, core farmer formation, etc. (in Japanese). Tokyo: SankeiBiz. http://www.sankeibiz.jp/macro/news/140527/mca1405270914007- n1.htm.
20 Scott J C. 1985. Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. New Haven: Yale University Press.
21 Scott R W. 2008. Institutions and Organizations: Ideas and Interests. London, New Delhi and Singapore: Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
22 Tōhoku MAFF (Tōhoku Regional Agricultural Administration Office). 2014. Pocket Statistics of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in the Tōhoku Region (in Japanese). Sendai City, Japan: Tōhoku Regional Agricultural Administration Office.

The Failure of Cooperative Farming Development Policies in Tōhoku, Japan

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

References

Related Articles 0

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments