Climate change jeopardizes Japan food security

A planting machine runs in a paddy field in the town of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture

Japan faces growing risks to its food security due mainly to climate change and a rapid decrease in the number of domestic farmers, an annual government report on the agricultural industry said Friday.

Also citing factors such as an unstable grain supply following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and high competition in food procurement amid an increase in global population, the report said Japan’s food security is “at a historic turning point.”

According to the report, endorsed by the Cabinet on Friday, the number of people in Japan who mainly engage in agriculture was some 1.16 million in 2023 down by more than half from 2.4 million in 2000.

Of the total, only some 20 percent were under 60 years of age, it said, noting the need for measures to boost the number of farmers and introduce more advanced technology into the industry.

The report said that more than 90 percent of Japan’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries products as well as foods were transported by truck in fiscal 2023, which ended in March, and that the use of trains and ships has been enhanced in the current year.