Abstract
Toward adaptation to the climate change, a number of scientific studies that attempt to forecast its impact on agriculture and develop technologies through breeding have been implemented. In order to initiate policy discussions for adaptation in the agricultural sector, however, this paper proposes that a wide variety of stakeholders who have interests in planting, cropping, marketing, and consumption must be identified as the first step of policy analysis toward sustainable adaptation.
The paper is a product of a stakeholder analysis based on a number of interviews about climate change adaptation with stakeholders in the field of agriculture in two case study areas in Saitama Prefecture. Our analysis reveals that their interest in climate change adaptation, which is likely to be an issue in several decades later, is minimal and its priority is very low. They are currently faced with harsh competition with imported food products and difficulties in persuading their heirs to inherit their operation. They in fact have substantial experience with adaptation to ever-changing consumer preferences and microclimate. Policy processes for climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector in Japan need to involve those representatives who have stakes in the agriculture in the long-term future.
