Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2012 September 5 - 11 [AGRICULTURE]

Agriculture in subordination to US - V: Food sovereignty a must

To stably obtain safe food is a public right as recognized by several U.N. resolutions. Each country should be able to implement its own food and agricultural policies to secure this right. This is referred to as food sovereignty.

Japan, however, lacks a sense of the need to secure economic independence, and its food sovereignty has been seriously restricted under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, having led to a steady decline in the nation’s agriculture and food self-sufficiency rate.

Agriculture, a key industry

It is as a matter of course for a country to take border measures such as tariffs and provide agricultural support for the purpose of protecting domestic agriculture as done in many European countries and the United States as well. Japan, in contrast, gives in to U.S. pressure to promote the “liberalization” of imports of foreign farm products. While cutting back on the necessary support, the government has called for “international competitiveness” of agriculture and thus discarded small farming to the interests of big business.

Giving priority to the interest of large exporting companies, the government has sacrificed the country’s agricultural market in exchange for the trade surplus piled up by exporting Japan’s industrial products to the United States. It is essential to change such attitude and instead place more importance on domestic agriculture as a key industry so that Japan can restore and develop its agriculture and increase the rate of national food self-sufficiency.

WTO agreement

Due to climate change, expanding global population, and an influx of speculative money in the world’s agricultural markets, the food situation in the world has become increasingly unstable.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that the world population will reach 9.1 billion in 2050, and thus stresses the need to increase global food production by 70% by then. A special rapporteur on “the Right to Food” appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) also points out that eradiation of hunger requires an increase in global food production, not trade liberalization.

However, the agreement on agriculture under the U.S.-led World Trade Organization (WTO) rejects measures to expand food production because they hamper free trade.

In opposition to this, more people are raising their voices for a review in the WTO’s agriculture agreement and for establishment of trade rules respecting each country’s food sovereignty.

Despite natural conditions favorable for food production, Japan has promoted external dependence in food. If Japan shifts its direction to self-driven development in agriculture, creates a system to improve production of its own food, and tries to lessen external dependence in food, Japan will for sure contribute to the international community hit by a possible shortage of food.

>Agriculture in subordination to US - I: Road to more imports of US farm surplus

>Agriculture in subordination to US - II: beef and citrus imports liberalized

>Agriculture in subordination to US - III: Door opened for further rice imports

>Agriculture in subordination to US - IV: Ill effects expected from TPP