Today, the world is facing a variety of problems such as climate change and food crisis. We invite experts from various fields to discuss the current situation and solutions to these problems with Ms. Marika Sera, a university student and TV personality who is eager to “learn more about the world! and university student and TV personality Marika Sera, who is eager to “learn more about the world,” together with invited guests who are experts in various fields, will discuss the current situation and solutions to such problems. The theme of the first session is “Why are food prices rising? . We interviewed Mr. Kiyohide Morita, former professor at Tohoku University and an expert on food price hikes, Ms. Rie Mishima, director of “Certified NPO National Support Center for Children’s Cafeteria, Musubue” and Mr. Yoji Matsui, Director of Agriculture and Rural Development Group 2, Economic Development Department of JICA.
From left to right: Rie Mishima, Kiyohide Morita, Marika Sera, Yoji Matsui (Economic Development Division) and Tsunaki Ito (Public Relations Division) of JICA
Tsunaki Ito, JICA Public Relations Department (hereinafter, Ito) My name is Ito, assistant facilitator. Mr. Sera, if Japan were to suspend imports, the main food items that could be provided to the people would be potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice.
Marika Sera (Sera) I am concerned about the bias because of the high carbohydrate content.
Kiyohide Morita (Morita) It would be nice if we could supplement more protein, but if Japan were to stop imports and try to provide 2020 kilocalories per capita, there would be three servings of potatoes, a glass of milk every six days, and an egg every seven days. Meat would be about 100 grams every 9 days.
Sera So the meat will be one meal every 9 days….
Marika Sera is surprised to see a meal with the assumption that imports have stopped.Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2002, Sera entered the entertainment industry in 19 years and has worked as a model and TV personality. She became the youngest ever Miss World 2019 Japan at the age of 16. She is enrolled in the Faculty of Policy Studies at Keio University.
Kiyohide Morita, who says price hikes will continue. D., is a professor at the College of Bioresource Sciences of Nihon University from 2002 to 2012, at the Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences of Tohoku University from 2012 to 2018, and at the Faculty of International Cultural Exchange of Komatsu Public University from 2018 to 2022. He is an expert on agricultural policy and agricultural economics.
What are the three factors in food price hikes?
Morita: Currently, food prices are skyrocketing around the world. Mr. Sera, do you like wheat-based food?
Sera I like noodles and eat at least one meal a day.
Morita: Grain prices, including wheat, have also been rising; they were hovering around $100 per ton in the second half of the 20th century, but reached a high of $524 per ton at their highest point. What do you think is the cause of the price hikes?
Sera: Is it the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
Morita: While this is a major factor, the fact is that world food prices would have risen even if the invasion of Ukraine had not taken place. There are three reasons for this.
The first is the growth of the world’s population. The supply and demand for food in emerging economic powers like India and China is exploding. However, this is “expected” in a sense. There are reasons for the unexpected, one of which is “new uses for grains. What do you think the uses are?
Sera Is it about using grain as fuel?
Morita: Yes. Right now, the largest biofuel feedstock is corn, and the United States is the world’s largest producer. It produces about 30% of the world’s corn, 40% of which is processed into biofuels.
Sera: 40%. That’s a big impact.
Morita The third is climate change: according to an October 2023 FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) report, global food production has suffered $3.8 trillion over the past 30 years due to global warming.
Sera If so, wouldn’t regions such as Africa and developing countries, which are hot to begin with, be greatly affected?
Africa has been affected by climate change, such as cold temperatures and droughts, etc. JICA has been involved in large-scale irrigation projects as part of its international cooperation, but recently it has been promoting the Community-Based Smallholder Irrigation Development Project (COBSI), a small-scale irrigation project in which farmers use stones, wood, soil and other materials available in their communities to create irrigation. COBSI (Community-Based Smallholder Irrigation) project. Conventional irrigation requires a large amount of money, which the government and farmers cannot afford to maintain. Against this backdrop, “smallholder irrigation” is spreading in Zambia. Supplemental irrigation, which draws water from the river during the dry season when water is scarce, is also being promoted.
A small irrigated COBSI being built
Sera How much difference is there in the economic burden between large irrigation and small irrigation?
Matsui: Large irrigations cost billions of yen, but small irrigations can be built for about one dollar. During the dry season, the water that is held back can flow into the fields, and during the rainy season the irrigation itself is washed away, but because it is made of stones and soil, the farmers can rebuild it themselves again the next dry season. It is very cost-effective. The accumulated water can be channeled to the fields, and a small irrigation can support 30 to 40 farmers.
Sera That’s a great effect for about a dollar. I wonder if the food price hikes will ever subside in the future.
Morita I believe it will last for 20 to 30 years. Population growth, biofuels, and climate change are three factors that cannot be easily solved. Even if we try to increase crop yields, there are environmental and groundwater contamination issues that limit production.
ITOH: In such a situation, you say that Japan has low food self-sufficiency rate in the world and is “losing out on buying food.
Sera What do you mean by “buy and lose”?
Matsui: This is a weakening of the volume and power to buy food from overseas. Countries with strong exchange rates and emerging countries with rapidly growing populations buy in large quantities, but Japan is unable to buy the quantities it needs when competing with foreign buyers. Some buyers lose out over the long term, while others lose out in an emergency when Japan has a bad harvest.
Sera That is a shocking story.
Yoji Matsui, Section Chief, talks about buying and losing. After working at an investment bank for about 7 years, he joined JICA in 2012. After working in the Middle East and Europe Department, seconded to the International Department of MAFF, and working in the Zambia Office, he is currently the Section Chief of the Agriculture and Rural Development Group 2, Economic Development Department. He is responsible for agricultural development and food and nutrition projects in the Africa region (excluding Eastern and Western English-speaking regions), the Middle East, and Europe.
Voluntary School Meals in Developing Countries and Children’s Cafeterias in Japan, Activities to Communicate with Each Other
Sera I am studying in the African Studies Group at the university. Are developing countries, not only in Africa, more susceptible to the effects of global warming?
Matsui: Households with low incomes have a high percentage of expenditure on food to begin with, so they are more likely to be affected by food prices. Governments also find it difficult to provide financial support, so JICA is taking a variety of approaches. For example, in 2008, we established an international initiative called the Community for the Advancement of Rice Development in Africa (CARD). This initiative aims to double rice production on the entire African continent in 10 years, and we have actually doubled the production. Currently, we are in phase 2 of the initiative to further double the production. We also have a market-oriented farming approach (SHEP) for vegetable cultivation, in which farmers are trained in cultivation after they have observed the local market for themselves and become aware of the most profitable crops.
On the other hand, it is important not only to produce food and increase the number of economically independent families, but also to “leave no one behind” in terms of food from the perspective of the SDGs. This is similar to Mr. Mishima’s activities.
Mishima What specific initiatives are you working on?
Matsui: “Voluntary School Lunch”. In Africa, school lunches are rarely provided due to financial reasons. Therefore, parents and local residents voluntarily prepare school lunches in an effort to improve the lack of concentration and health conditions caused by hunger.
Voluntary School Lunch in Africa
Mishima It is just like the children’s cafeteria where everyone eats together.
Matsui: The “Kodomo no Shokudo” (Children’s Cafeteria) is established through the efforts of local residents. Voluntary school lunches are established by the parents themselves. Self-motivation” is important for agricultural development in Africa. Government support is limited, and government workers cannot go to farmers because there is no money for fuel. What is important there is to move on one’s own. We believe that this is the eternal theme of international cooperation: how to encourage local people to work on their own initiative. Please tell us why the people around you at the Children’s Diner can operate on their own initiative.
Mishima Children’s cafeterias have spread to more than 9,000 locations nationwide. Most of them are volunteer activities, but they are also “voluntary mutual support activities” as the population ages and communities become more and more desolate. We hope that this activity will spread further throughout Japan as a mutual support activity.
Matsui: What triggers the creation of mutual support?
Mishima One reason, I think, is that the name “Kodomo Shokudo” (Children’s Diner) resonates with people. The combination of the power words “children,” which are important to everyone, and “food” is a big factor. Furthermore, Japan is a country prone to disasters, where the everyday and the extraordinary go hand in hand. I think it is because of this underlying desire to cherish the connections with people on a daily basis in order to maintain the safety of our daily lives that we are motivated to “take action.
Rie Mishima speaks enthusiastically about the empathetic power of children’s cafeterias, and after working for JICA, she helped establish the Japan Fundraising Association and worked to create a system to connect NPOs and donors. She participated in the launch of the National Children’s Cafeteria Support Center “Musubie” and will be a Musubie board member in 2022.
What we can do to protect our food
Ito: I heard that lack of nutrition during infancy has effects not only in childhood, but also later in adulthood?
Matsui: According to the international medical journal “The Lancet,” a 2008 study found that “nutritional deficiencies during the first 1,000 days of life (280 days in utero + 2 years after birth) have a significant impact on the subsequent growth of children. We are told that we are in a food crisis, but we also believe that we are actually in a nutrition crisis.
Mishima In Japan, the relative poverty rate for children is 11.5% (in 2021). The diet is also unevenly distributed from family to family. While there are differences in the diet of each family, at the Children’s Cafeteria we are conscious of eating seasonal vegetables so that the children can experience a variety of foodstuffs.
Sera We have talked a lot so far, but what can we do to protect our food?
What can we do to protect food?” Mr. Sera asks the question, “What can we do to protect food?
Morita: Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate is low at 38% on a calorie basis, but rice productivity is high. Rice production is the most effective way to sustain food self-sufficiency in Japan. Rice consumption is decreasing, but the price of rice has not risen in the midst of this food price hike. So rice is easy on the family budget. Moreover, Japanese food is recognized as healthy, and eating more rice can be a major force to revive Japanese agriculture. Japan is now in a situation where it cannot afford to buy even basic foodstuffs, so reviving rice consumption is also a contribution to the global food crisis.
Sera: It is also important to educate people about the importance of eating rice.
Morita: Japan used to be able to buy from other countries if it had the money, but as was mentioned about losing out on buying, it is now losing out on buying basic foodstuffs as well. Reviving the Japanese style of eating habits will contribute to the global food crisis. It is important for Japan to fulfill its responsibility as a country to import food, as this will put pressure on other countries. I hope that Japan will not put pressure on the world’s food supply and demand by turning its attention to domestically grown wheat and soybeans so that they can be tasted in school lunches.
Mishima: At the Children’s Dining Hall, children eat rice and vegetables donated by local farmers, which are prepared with love, and I believe that they will eventually grow up to be adults with a producer’s perspective. The children’s cafeteria is also the foundation for creating a rich food culture.
Matsui: In agricultural development in Africa, I believe that we can bring out the potential of Africa by not only saying “we will produce rice” and “we will produce staple foods,” but also by enriching the country and attracting young people to agriculture. It is also important to reevaluate the importance of eating. In the case of Africa in particular, farmland is often ravaged by soldiers looting farm equipment or destroying fields, and farmers are left to their own devices. Under such severe circumstances, I felt that “food” might be an opportunity for people to look forward.
Sera: In talking with everyone, there were many topics about food that I did not know about that I was familiar with. I found it interesting that there were things I could do, such as “eating foods produced domestically so as not to put pressure on the rest of the world.”
© Source JICA
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