Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2023 June 28 - July 4 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP and Farmers movement agree to cooperate in efforts to change policies that worsen domestic agricultural crisis

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kami Tomoko, who heads the JCP Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Bureau, on June 27 met with representatives of the National Federation of Farmers Movement (Nouminren) at the Upper House members’ office building and received Nouminren’s policy proposal for breakthroughs in the ongoing farm crisis.

Nouminren Secretary General Fujiwara Asako explained that the focus of the proposal is: to change the current policy of liberalizing import of agricultural products; introduce a farm price support system designed to ensure agricultural reproduction; and establish a government policy aimed at increasing food and agricultural production by implementing an agroecology system centered on family farms.

Nouminren Vice Chair Sasawatari Yoshio pointed out that the ongoing farm crisis represented by the declining food self-sufficiency rate and the collapse of the food production base resulted from successive governments’ adverse policies such as the promotion of trade liberalization and cuts in support for farmers. He criticized the Kishida government for putting a huge military buildup before conservation of farming. He said, “Using our proposal as leverage, we will work hard to increase public awareness of the need to tackle the agricultural crisis so that this issue will be discussed in the next general election campaign.”

Kami in reply said that the JCP plans to release its own proposal, and added, “In this regard, your proposal will be useful for us in drafting our proposal.” She expressed her determination to make the utmost efforts to bring about a change in government in order to properly deal with the agricultural crisis.