Author(s): Tomoko Oikawa
Title: Towards Sustainable Development of Agriculture: Significance of Cooperatives in the Case of Japan
Source: International Scientific Days 2018 :: Towards Productive, Sustainable and Resilient Global Agriculture and Food Systems :: Proceedings
ISBN: 978-80-7598-180-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15414/isd2018.s4.15
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer ČR, Prague
PY, pages: 2018, 1079-1087
Published on-line: 2018-11-09
Language: eng
Abstract: This paper will claim that sustainable development of agriculture is crucially involved in family farming. Further, the strength of family farming is essential for the maintenance and sustainable development of local community. The paper will highlight the
role of agricultural cooperatives in this context - ,the importance of family farming and local community for productive, resilient and sustainable development of agriculture. The present Japan agricultural cooperatives, a consumer
cooperative, credit union, and credit cooperative, all have their roots in the Industry Cooperative Association Act in 1900. The original main aim of this Act was to protect micro-and small enterprises from overwhelming big business.
At present agricultural cooperatives have attracted criticism regarding raison d'etre from governmental council and some other groups. Each party shows quite a distinctive standpoint on this issue, the one based on the perspective of
community agriculture development and the other the principle of open economy with free competition. The paper will show that agricultural cooperatives are of great importance for sustainable development of agriculture itself but also
of the region as a whole.
Keywords: sustainable agriculture, family farming, community farming, agricultural cooperatives, regional development, market fundamentalism
JEL Classification: R11, Q13, Q18, Q19
Rights:Open Access :: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 International Licence
Toto dielo je publikované pod/This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.
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