Deep Roots

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Image: The Japan Agricultural News

Family farmers play an important role in maintaining local cultures and

traditions, producing food and revitalizing local communities

gather under each JA. They organize JA youth groups and

JA women’s associations respectively, so that they work

together to address their common issues. Members of a JA

also organize various multilevel groups in order to deal with

key issues in local communities, such as pension recipients’

groups and volunteer groups to care for the elderly. They

contribute to energizing their local community together with

local residents.

Each JA provides economic business services, includ-

ing purchasing, marketing and farm guidance, which help

members’ farming. The members’ farms are mainly operated

by families. JAs also offer credit service and mutual insur-

ance businesses that provide funds for members and help

them provide against accidents and illnesses, based on the

JA philosophy. Furthermore, each JA provides other various

businesses and services, such as medical, nursing, welfare

services and supplying daily necessities in its role as an

essential organization to support the lifeline of a community.

In addition, a number of JAs manage farmers’ markets

called the ‘JA Farmers Market’, where many small-scale

local family farmers sell their products directly to consum-

ers. These are unique places where farmers have benefited

in recent years.

The JA Farmers Market provides a unique opportunity to

secure incomes for small-scale farmers, especially for aged

farmers who don’t produce a large quantity of products,

new farmers and female farmers that need assistance to

raise children. They can accommodate consumers’ needs

appropriately since the farmers’ market functions as a

personal point of contact with consumers. Conversations

with consumers encourage farmers, and especially aged

farmers, to continue farming. New farmers take advantage

of the experience to enhance their skills in order to advance

their career to a more professional level.

Each JA is dedicated to revitalizing local communities by

focusing on family farming. They encourage local farmers

to produce more diversified products, rather than produce a

bigger quantity of each product, by assisting them in techni-

cal issues and networking them, so that the farmers’ market

becomes more attractive to consumers as it becomes filled

with a large variety of locally grown products. In addition,

they hold various attractive programmes such as the ‘Rice

Planting Experience’, ‘Harvest Rice Experience’ events for

children and ‘Cooking School’ for local residents.

Family farming uniquely offers a universal value in local

economies and broader society. The above-referenced FAO

report further notes that well-functioning cooperatives and

farmers’ organizations act as a catalyst to empower small

agricultural producers. To recognize the International Year

of Family Farming 2014, we, JA Group, will rededicate

our efforts to play a role as ‘cooperatives deep rooted in

communities with the axis of food and agriculture’. We

will also redouble our efforts to continue to be an organi-

zation that responds effectively to the needs of our family

farmer members and communities and to serve as a model

for others to follow.

Support by JA

on business

and activity

•Help in setting up

their vision

•Help in accumulating

farms for ‘Leading

Farmers’ and offer

business proposals

•Help in organizing

community farming

•Support to

‘New Farmers’

•Other

Local Farming Vision

for each district

•Clarifying ‘Leading

Farmers’ and

securing farmland

for them

•Clarifying respective

roles of various

farmers

•Developing attractive

production area

with local features

•Developing rich

community through

agriculture

Policy support

by government

•Subsidy for Farm

Accumulation

•Subsidy for Youths’

Agricultural

Engagement

•Other

Nationwide promotion of the ‘Local Farming

Vision’ movement

• In order to conserve agricultural land as farmland and assure

successive local farming to the next generation, JA Group

promotes the ‘Local Farming Vision’ movement.

• In the movement, member family farmers take initiative to

envision their desirable future of farming and living in the

community, based on discussions in each settlement or district.

• JA and national/local administration integrally support the

setup and practice of ‘Local Farming Vision’ from aspects of

businesses, activities and policies.

Source: JA-ZENCHU

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