JAPAN-AGRICULTURE: Workload Falls on Women as Men Move to Cities

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Nov 2 1995 (IPS) - The uncertain future of Japanese agriculture has led increasing numbers of young male farmers to flock to the cities in search of more stable jobs, leaving women with the burden of tending their farms.

Ryuichi Yamanashi of the Japan Agriculture Women’s Group warns the ageing rural population will grow further if Japan yields to pressure from farm exporters like the United States and Australia to further open up its agricultural market.

“Liberalisation means an end to subsidies that have kept prices stable. That means more men will start looking for steady jobs and leave the unstable farming sector to women,” says Yamanishi. Women make up 60 percent of Japan’s farmers.

Kiyoe Deguro, who has farmed a small plot of land in the southern island of Shikoku in the last 48 years, is worried Japan will agree to liberalise farm trade at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit which opens in Osaka on Nov. 19.

The Japanese government is expected to delay decision on the matter, aware of the sensitivity of the issue among the agricultural sector.

“My main produce is rice and I also grow figs to supplement my income. But the going is very, very tough,” says the 65-year-old farm worker, whose husband teaches at the local high school.

Japanese farmers were hard hit by Tokyo’s decision two years ago to lift its decades-old ban on rice imports as a compromise during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

“With the availability of cheaper foreign rice, I will never be able to compete,” laments Deguro, whose children all left for the cities years ago. “With all the changes that are happening around me I just can’t keep my head up any more, not all alone.”

Deguro says she finds it difficult to make her farm a more lucrative venture because of the labour of labour and support from her family.

“With no proper outside help and my children not willing to take over the farm in the future, I hesitate to borrow a lot of money to diversify the farm and cultivate more lucrative crops,” she says.

Opening up farm trade sector would “deal a hard blow to Japan’s food stability”, warns Deguro. “Cheaper imports will mean I will have to work harder to lower my prices as well. I can now no longer rely on my income.”

Despite the long hours she puts into their farm, Deguro says her husband is still the main breadwinner. “The farm I run supplies our daily food needs such as rice, vegetables and fruits. But I depend on my husband for everything else.”

Deguro’s case is typical of the plight of farmers across Japan. The rural population is rapidly ageing and the lack of interest among the younger generation has put farm production in the doldrums, according to this year’s government white paper.

The country’s rural population shrunk to 3.38 million in fiscal year 1993, about half the figure a decade earlier. An overwhelming majority of rural Japanese are aged between 50 and 70 years.

Official statistics show that the number of males involved in full-time farming in 1993 — the year Japan decided to liberalise rice imports — was half what it was in 1970, indicating men are increasingly turning their back on agriculture.

Even the number of full-time women farmers has decreased over the years. Many women now take on part-time jobs in local factories in addition to working in the fields and looking after their families.

Deguro, one of the nearly two million members of the Japan Agriculture Women’s Group, says women farmers have long carried an unfair burden.

“My mother, who worked hard along with my father, was never allowed to take decisions when it came to the farm, was not paid for her labour and was also expected to take care of the family,” she says.

“Today my income is dwindling and I have no pension or other benefits to rely on, unlike my husband,” she adds.

The local media, while supporting a more open agricultural trade policy, continue to point to the dire situation facing Japanese agriculture.

Commentators have called on the government to enact new policies that will guarantee stability to the nation’s farmers.

Japan also has to deal with the problem of shrinking agricultural land as more and more farmers decide to sell their land for factories or roads rather than face a shaky future.

The Yomiuri Shimbun, the country’s largest daily, last week warned this situation could bring serious environmental problems and increase Japan’s dependence on foreign countries for its food supplies.

JAPAN-AGRICULTURE: Workload Falls on Women as Men Move to Cities

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Nov 2 1995 (IPS) - The uncertain future of Japanese agriculture has led increasing numbers of young male farmers to flock to the cities in search of more stable jobs, leaving women with the burden of tending their farms.
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