[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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According to the advancement of Turkey’s accession negotiations with the EU, the need for comprehending the effect of accession on Turkish agriculture is growing.In this article, first, the international competitiveness of agriculture in the Mediterranean region of Turkey is estimated using the Domestic Resource Cost approach.Second, the intra-EU competitiveness of agriculture in the Mediterranean region of Turkey is simulated, focusing on the effect of direct payment scheme. The results Obtained are as follows: (1) All products except for milk in irrigatedareas, especially commercial crops such as maize, orangeand sunflower, have international competitiveness with the current price and technical levels; (2) in the case of accession without direct payment, the price levels will change and therefore the intra-EU competitiveness of basic crops such as wheat and milk will diminish; (3) however, that of wheat will recover with direct payment.The results indicate that there is a high possibility that agriculture in the Mediterranean region of Turkey, with direct payment, will sustain its competitiveness even if Turkey’s accession to the EU is done.

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This paper examined the ripple effect of the food industry on agricultural production in the Chugoku region, Japan, on the basis of an input-output analysis. The following results were obtained: (1) The ripple effect of the food industry on agricultural production in this region is not as significant as it is in other regions. (2) The effect of the rice milling and alcoholic beverage sectors on agricultural production is more significant in this region than in other regions. (3) The effect of the livestock, rice milling, and cooked food sectors on agricultural production occupies the bigger share than other sectors. (4) In the food industry in this region, the dependence on other regions for raw materials is relatively high. (5) The effects of the production values of the livestock, rice milling, and cooked food sectors on the agricultural production value have decreased.

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This study focused on the issue of consumer anxiety as a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Data was collected from a questionnaire survey of nearly 600 women who ranged in age from being in their 20s to their 50s living in Tokyo’s metropolitan area. After analyzing the results of this survey, the following conclusions were drawn: 1) Consumers showed a greater tendency toward anxiety as a result of the earthquake and nuclear power plant accident than they did toward issues concerning food availability and food safety. 2) There did not appear to be a difference in anxiety level among consumers concerning disasters that might occur in the future.On the other hand, younger consumers and those with small children appeared to feel heightened anxiety about the disasters that had already occurred.

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Recently, Japanese agricultural and rural development projects initiated by national and local governments have increasingly begun to rely on collective participation by the community to be successful. We attempted to identify the characteristics of rural residents that enhance a project’s performance. We focused on residents’personal experiences of engaging in crime prevention, working with NPOs, participating in environmental conservation, etc. We determined that such experiences are likely to enhance a project’s performance. The experiences of working with NPOs and participating in community meetings significantly influenced the performance of projects, as they allowed residents to evaluate projects.

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This paper aims to clarify the role of non-economic organizations in the formation of regional cooperative management bodies and to clarify the mechanisms by which such bodies are created, in order to sustain regional cooperative management, from the standpoint of management function, cooperative function and regional public function. We studied a farmers’market in an urban area and a mountain area. Our main findings with regard to the formation of regional cooperative management bodies are as follows: (1) There are various non-economic organizations that solve regional problems. (2) There are regional organizations that unify the former organizations. (3) We re-realized importance of human resources development facilities like community centers.

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This study examines the process of greengrocery merchandising at the local supermarket. In particular, the study focuses on the recent trend of “farmer’s market in the supermarket (in-shop).” For this study, we analyze data collected from a supermarket located in Akita. The purpose of the study is to examine the following: 1) changes in the marketing strategy of A supermarket for greengroceries, and 2) actual purchases and sales.
The results indicate that the store’s competitiveness is strengthened by the procurement of high quality greengrocery. That the high quality fruit and vegetables to provide such a “in-shop”. In addition, there are shops, just a “rental location” is not. An important part of management is to ensure that fresh (in-shop) and regular (supermarket) items complement each other.

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The sluggish nature of the wholesale vegetables market has resulted in deteriorating business for wholesalers. This means that wholesalers must deal with domestic vegetables for business and proc essing, since the demand for these is increasing. Fulfilling this demand is an important management strategy for wholesalers. However, domestic production of vegetables for business and processing creates its own host of problems, including price, quantity reservation, and quality. This research suggested solutions for such problems, based on case analysis, and revealed the implications for wholesalers dealing with domestic vegetables for business and processing.

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In this study, the expected knowledge of dieticians working in food industries was investigated using the Delphi technique. The results of this study indicated that the most expected knowledge was on the subject concerning “clinical nutrition.” Dieticians working in food industries advise consumers and other dieticians working in hospitals on issues regarding nutrition and health. The results indicated an additional desire to learn about recent developments in the field of clinical nutrition.

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Japan has experienced an increase in abandoned farmland. Our research has focused on the production and marketing of chicken eggs with rice feed, with further study aimed at creating sustainable local agriculture and farmland conservation by increasing rice production and the use of feed. To realize this vision, consumers need to accept an increase in cost due to egg production using rice feed. We have estimated, on the basis of conjoint analysis, the willingness of consumers to pay for the use of rice feed for egg production.
As a result, this willingness to pay was found more in consumers of higher age groups and by information flow from person to person through conversation. The effects of advertising media, such as leaflets or text panels, were not confirmed.
We concluded from these results that to continue with this effort, it is important to communicate information through conversations between consumers, specifically those who have previously purchased the eggs andthose who are purchasing them for the first time.

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The purpose of this research was to determine the economic benefits introducing a new technique for cultivating cherry tomatoes.
The findings of the study were as follows: (1) Incorporating this newly developed technique eliminates the spring labor conflict between growing rice and cherry tomatoes. (2) Autumn yields increase, and sales earnings are at least as good as those of conventional cultivation methods. Additionally, by directly planting cell seedlings, the new technique reduces expenses associated with raising seedlings. (3) Calculations assuming the introduction of this new technique combining the cultivation of rice and cherry tomatoes indicate the possibility of planting larger areas of cherry tomatoes and therefore increase income.

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The purpose of this paper was to measure the technical efficiency of wheat in Japan using stochastic frontier analysis of samples from different prefectures during the period between 1987 and 2008, and to investigatewhether the technical efficiency of Japan’s wheat production from these different regions converges.
We found that the technical efficiency of wheat in Japan showed a tendency to decrease.
Three kinds of panel unit root tests implied that technical efficiency tended to converge in each region.

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The Act on Interim Measures concerning Subsidies for Soybean and Rapeseed was implemented in 1961. Since then, producers have not received subsidies for soybean production when selling soybeans directly to processors. Processors’supply shortages have been resolved throughimports. Since 2007, the cell agricultural cooperative has been selling soybeans as “koufukin-daizu” to processors. Agricultural Products Inspection (API) plays an important role in product distribution and determines the product value standard based on appearance quality. However, processors want component information about soybeans to confirm processing suitability, revealing a discrepancy in product value between API and the processors. Supplying information on the contents of proteins and sugars in soybeans will improve soybean product distribution.

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Apart from being a traditional processed food, soybeans are increasing used as a functional food material or as ingredients. In this article, I performed a statistical analysis of the market trends of soybean products and reviewed articles about the health benefits of soybeans and the product strategy of companies engaged in soybean production. The following three results were obtained. First, each of the traditional soybean food markets tends to shrink. The second has many studies of the animal experiment level by the functional study on soybean. However, clinical trial data have accumulated, and the development of soybean products and their promotion on scientific grounds has become possible. The company presenting a soybean product presents promotion of a soybean or the food culture than the promotion of the product positively.

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This paper examines the changes in the logic of human relations in the context of African small holders, concentrating on moral economy and the so-called fair trade. The economies of Sub-Saharan African Countries have been stagnant for several decades. The moral economy and the logic of small holders’behaviors have been considered to be the major reasons behind this underdevelopment, while some researchers have confirmed richness in human relations that support the livelihood of local people. Reciprocity and subsistence strategy are focal factors in moral economy. Fair trade also aims to support marginalized people by building trade partnerships and solidarity between the global South and North. At the same time, however, the moral economy is changing through development projects by foreign donors and through involvement in fair trade. It is necessary to continue to study the effects and implications of these phenomena.

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In this paper I examine African peasant problems from the perspective of the moral economy, focusing on the Gogo, an agro-pastoral society of East Africa. In analyzing the rapidly changing African peasant world, I focus on the relationship between the kibarua (wage labor) phenomenon and the moral economy. In conclusion, I point out that, in order to fully understand the contemporary problems of African peasants, it is necessary to create a new concept of “subsistence” that is wide enough to include the cash economy.

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The group of Agro-pastoralists known as the Gogo is the primary ethnic group of the Dodoma region in Central Tanzania. This region, situated on the border has an average rainfall of 600 mm, is semi-arid and suffers from frequent famines. Therefore, the Gogo develop their own improvised lifestyle for survival, based on subsistent agriculture and livestock upkeep, and on “moral economical” relationships that function as a social safety net. As urbanization advances, they must rely on increasingly on money, yet this phenomenon does not immediately suggest a capital economy. The moral economy’s logic is still quite apparent in their lifestyle. The Gogo appear at times to deny “development”, but do actually prefer to invest in an effort to build relationships, rather than to accumulate monetary assets. Our “development logic” consists of an increase in wealth, based on the cycle of accumulation and investment of capital. The differences between these approaches may shed light on our “rationality” and cause us to rethink the value of “development”.

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While the subject of “moral economy” has rarely attracted attention in Southeast Asian studies, the African moral economy has recently been actively discussed by such scholars as G. Hyden and K. Sugimura, who aimto elucidate characteristics of the African economy by examining the locals’way of life as supported by everyday morals. This paper aims to provide another view of the African moral economy by investigating village economics in Southeast Asia, focusing, in particular, on livestock raising in the northeastern region of Thailand, known as Isan.
In Isan, where sticky rice is cultivated as the principle crop, water buffaloes were traditionally raised as draft animals. In the past, water buffaloes played various important roles, such as in economic risk management orin the reinforcement of social relations. However, since the 1970s, Isan villagers have experienced rapid social changes, and livestock raising too has changed. According to the national and provincial statistics, it is said that the importance of water buffaloes has declined through the 1990s and cattle raising has simultaneously emerged as a substitute.
However, such a macroscopic analysis does not reflect the reality of livestock raising in Isan. In this paper, we perform a more microscopic analysis of the change in the livestock population at a household level for theperiod 2001-2011 and try to identify the speculative trend of cattle raising and the durability of and change in water buffalo raising.

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This paper clarifies the average structure of farm household economy in Lukani Village that is situated on the western slope of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in order to facilitate the analysis of the effects of coffee price volatility on the villagers’farm management, households, and livelihood. The conceptual diagram of the farm household economy can be used to analyze the effects of the Coffee Crisis of 2001-02 (when international coffee prices were registering historic lows) and a fair trade project (wherein producer price increases are guaranteed).

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This paper presents a cross-regional comparison of the diversity of farmers producing fair-trade products.African smallholders are compared with their counterparts in Southeast Asia from the viewpoint of their subsistence and moral economy. African peasants are found to rely mainly on their own production and on assistance from neighbors for their subsistence (especially for food), whereas for farmers in Southeast Asia, subsistence is based on the market economy. In a sense, African peasants are more autonomous than are farmers in Southeast Asia because they stand on their own feet rather than depend on outside forces such as the market or state. Therefore, fair trade with African peasants should be practiced so as not to spoil their subsistence system, which is also supported by the moral economy in their communities.

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