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1. Are Farmers an
Endangered
Species?
Institutional Barriers for
New and Beginning
Farmers and Sustainable
Agriculture in Japan
14 December 2020
Chika Kondo, Atsushi Suzuki
Kyoto Univeristy Graduate School of
Agriculture
Department of Natural Resource
Economics

2. Shiga,
Japan
75% live in urban
regions (MAFF 2018)
2020: 28.4% reside in
Tokyo metropolitan
area
51.8% reside in the Big
three (Tokyo, Osaka,
Nagoya)
Small-scale
Agriculture
composed mainly
of part-time
farmers, focusing
primarily on rice
and vegetable
production, and
with an average
farm size of 1.72 ha
Average age of
Farmer: 67 years old
Less than 10% of
farmers are under the
age of 40
corporations were
excluded from
agriculture sector
until 1999

3. SDG Goal 2.4
by 2030 ensure sustainable food
production systems and implement
resilient agricultural practices that increase
productivity and production, that help
maintain ecosystems, that strengthen
capacity for adaptation to climate change,
extreme weather, drought, flooding and
other disasters, and that progressively
improve land and soil quality
Next Generation
Agriculture
Investment
Capital
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry
(MAFF) is to provide interest-free loans and living
stipends totaling USD $15,000 per year (2017) and
becoming a certified farmers grants access to
additional loans for farming operations.
This catalyzed the increase of new self-employed
farmers, especially those who were under the age
of 50.
This research assesses what barriers exist for
new entry farmers in order to identify the gaps
between rural social norms upheld by
incumbent farmers and agriculture institutions
and the desires of new farmers to farm
sustainably.

4. New and
Beginning
Farmer
Certification
Process 3
2
Prospective Farmer consults with
either prefectural office, local
extension agency, or career fair to
make initial connection
Prepares a 5 year business plan
with proof of land tenure,
financial stability, and
established distribution channels
Seek support and advice
from local extension
agency, understand the
context of region's
agricultural practices and
norms
Must be able to
present clear logic
and evidence of skill
set to ensure
execution of farming
proposal and
projected revenue
targets.
Present Farming
Business Plan in front
of regional agricultural
approval committee. On
average is held twice a
year dependent on
region and propsective
number of applicants
Each Agricultural
Committee (made up of
extension officers, JA
members, and
longstanding veteran
farmers) will approve or
deny application. Once
approved, the extension
officer continues follow up
on progress and offers
additional support if
necessary.
1
6 5
4
7
Secure land and have a clear
sense of what type of farm
one will pursue

5. Results
_interviewee demographics
Distribution streams vary within both certified and non-certified farmers (direct farm
stands, direct sales markets, farm restaurant, online sales)
None participated in conventional food distribution
small-scale holders
all under the age of 50
most held previous careers unrelated to agriculture
CONVENTIONAL
13 FARMERS
(4 CERTIFIED)

6. Certified
Farmers
Mostly 1-3 speciality crops
Farm Type
working on larger scale
farming enterprise
agriculture college
Farm Training
found little to no difficulty
; are members of JA
Application
Process
access additional loans to
build farm infrastructure;
stipend went into savings
Use of Fund
did not make much use of
network within municipal
or prefectural agriculture
offices
Benefits

7. Non-
Certified
Farmers
low in-put ecological
farming; 10-100 varities
Farm Type
agriculture training
programs, apprenticing
Farm Training
suspicious of
marketability of organic;
conflict of interest with
other businesses
not interested in applying
Other
Reasons
attend training hosted by
municipal offices and call
extension office for
technical assistance
Institutional
Support
Disqualified
personal (ie not wanting
to depend on outside
funds)

8. Farmer
Collaborations
Rich Green
Aggregates harvest from 17 farm members for 4
regional consumer cooperatives. Collectively they
grow 17 varieties and add members who are new
and beginning farmers many of whom are under
the age of 50.
Shiga Women 100
Project
led and operated by women farmers,
they collaborate to build shared
marketing platform via gift boxes,
farmers market vending, and hosting
events to provide support for future
women farmers.

9. Food Safety
Radiation contamination
provoked great fear for
consumers and concerns about
where their produce was
coming from. For Kansai
farmers, areas that were
accepting landfill waste from
the nuclear meltdown created
tensions among communities
and farmers.
Shock for
Producers
Overnight many veteran
farmers especially those
who engage in direct to
consumer sales strategy
lost their market base
overnight.
Provoking thoughts
many new and
beginning farmers
mentioned how 3/11
was a moment of
reflection to re-evaluate
their lifestyles and
whether or not they led
meaningful lifes.
3/11
Triple
Disaster
Lockdown
Japan endured lockdown
between April and May where
schools were closed,
restaurants suffered, and
borders continue to be closed
for tourists (Japan's tourism
makes up 2.3% of its GDP)
Shock for Consumers
rise in home-cooking, home
delivery surges (via
consumer cooperatives and
online e-commerce ); food
delivery platforms spike in
demand; supermarkets
were briefly busy but now
are back to more normal
sales level
Individual consumer >
restaurants/hotels
producers do not face
much hardship as their loss
of restaurant sales were
covered by increase in
individual purchase;
restaurants who are not
able to pivot face business
closure
COVID-
19
Pandemic

10. recommendation for new and
beginning farmer policies to
integrate MAFF's promotion of
sustainable agriculture and SDG.
Conclusion
despite increasing age of farmers
and farmer population loss, new
and beginning farmers are
interested in sustainable
agriculture but have difficulty
finding support structures to build
financially feasible business
models but are actively building
direct relationships with
consumers in urban areas via
farmer collaborations
direct sales distribution is desired
for new and beginning farmers but
it has its limitations in distribution
logistics.

11. chikakondo91@gmail.com
Thanks for
listening!
R|R

12. How to address urban
population dependency
on rural areas for more
equal and inclusive
communities especially
marginalized members
e.g elderly and lower
social-economic
population)?
SDG 3 and 11
Goal 2. End Hunger, achieve
food security, promote
sustainable agriculture
Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives
and promote well being for all
ages
Goal 11: Make cities inclusive,
safe, resilient, and
sustainable
How do we assess the
complexities in the
Urban/Rural continuum
and the role of
technology in order to
transition towards a
more inclusive symbiotic
ecosystem?
SDG 11
SDG
Goals
How does the COVID-
19 crisis/shock inform
how we re-evaluate the
role of rural areas as the
main source of food
security?
SDG 2

13. How to address urban
population dependency
on rural areas for more
equal and inclusive
communities especially
marginalized members
e.g elderly and lower
social-economic
population)?
SDG 3 and 11
Goal 2. End Hunger, achieve
food security, promote
sustainable agriculture
Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives
and promote well being for all
ages
Goal 11: Make cities inclusive,
safe, resilient, and
sustainable
How do we assess the
complexities in the
Urban/Rural continuum
and the role of
technology in order to
transition towards a
more inclusive symbiotic
ecosystem?
SDG 11
SDG
Goals
How does the COVID-
19 crisis/shock inform
how we re-evaluate the
role of rural areas as the
main source of food
security?
SDG 2