Japanese growers point at need for change in mentality

Nieuwsbericht | 11-12-2024 | 02:41

On 21 November, 24 growers from across Japan gathered in Tokyo to exchange views on the future of horticulture in Japan in a workshop organized by the Netherlands Embassy in close collaboration with the Japan Agricultural Exchange Council (JAEC) and Kochi Prefectural Government. Overall, the Japanese growers shared a vision of a more diverse and professional sector in the future, which would be more export-oriented but still also very much focused on the domestic market. However, the road to this future is paved with many challenges at present, ranging from increasing labour shortages, fast growing pest and heat problems as a result of climate change, and rising production (energy) costs, to changing farmers’ mentality and ensuring the transition from farmer to manager. In addressing these challenges, most participants found the Dutch horticulture sector as a continuing source of inspiration, technology and knowledge.

In addition to cultivation technology, Japanese farmers could also learn from the Netherlands to take pride in farming and their family business, instead of stimulating their children to find other employment, some workshop participants said.

Workshop:

The workshop, held at the residence of Dutch ambassador to Japan Gilles Beschoor Plug, represented the views of a diverse and inclusive roster of participants, varying in age (from 18 to 66 years old), gender (including 7 women growers) and products (from fruit and vegetables to flowers). The participants, who for the most part received agricultural training in the Netherlands or visited the country with a mission, talked frankly about their experiences, expectations, challenges, and hopes for the future, while reflecting on what they had learnt from the Netherlands.

To facilitate discussions, the participants were divided into groups with each group given a specific set of questions. They were asked, amongst others, about their vision of what the agricultural sector in Japan would look like in the future, what to them constitutes the value of farmers and what it means to be successful as farmers.

In the future, due to robotics and other innovations, farming would be more accessible for anyone to step in, resulting in a more diverse farming population with the presence of (more) women, foreigners, younger people, corporate and individual farmers, self-employed as well as company employees. But to get there, the participants pointed out a number of challenges that need to be solved, in addition to practical solutions to immediate problems such as increasing heat and pest problems, energy saving and labour supply.

Together the participants painted an ideal picture of the sector as having developed to the point where all work has been robotized and anyone can step in.

One of the challenges most often mentioned concerns the current mentality amongst many farmers and the need to get farmers (and others) more enthusiastic about farming as a career path. Participants noted that Japan is in many respects a slow and conservative country, where all stakeholders (farmers, Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA), local authorities and the national government) still need to evolve a lot. At present, the majority of Japanese farmers is only involved with the cultivation of crops, with all other aspects of the farming business taken care of by JA. Yet, many participants indicated a need for a more professional business model of farming, requiring management skills and inventiveness, a better understanding of the demands of consumers and more involvement in promoting market development. In addition, participants felt that there should be a better understanding of the different roles farmers play when farming in urban areas or rural areas. In rural areas, farmers have an additional role as conservationists of the countryside by preserving farm land and by conserving the local environment. In the vicinity of cities, on the other hand, farmers (should) have a role in communicating with consumers about food production, for example enlightening them on the benefits and costs of pesticide reduction.

When discussing their notion of success as farmers, participants offered different interpretations. To some success was linked to their ability to pass on the business to the next generation, or to sustainably manage and produce in harmony with the environment. Other participants were more focused on profitability and bargaining power: their notion of a successful business was linked to having decision-making power with regard to prices and technological innovation.

All in all, the workshop was very successful. For most participants the workshop provided a rare and valuable opportunity to exchange notes with growers from other regions in Japan, and to learn from each other’s farming business practice. For many it was also the first time to have been challenged to think about their business development in the long term, which they said was a very good learning experience sparking a more active engagement from now on. The workshop was followed by a networking event, where the ties of this very unique group, with agricultural training in the Netherlands as their common theme, was strengthened.

The participants were selected with the help of Kochi Prefectural Government, which has been dispatching horticultural missions since the signing of their horticulture friendship agreement with the municipality Westland since 2009, as well as the Japan Agricultural Exchange Council, a body that has sent some 570 agricultural trainees to the Netherlands since 1963. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Toshihiro Okabayashi and Dr. Setowa Nabeshima of Kochi Prefectural Government, and Mr. Akihiko Kaito, Japan Agricultural Exchange Council, for their instrumental role in realizing this fruitful workshop, together with the Embassy.

A recording of the workshop will be edited for sharing online at a later date.

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