（社説）食料の確保 自給率一辺倒をやめよ

August 18, 2014
EDITORIAL: Food security policy should be more diversified
（社説）食料の確保　自給率一辺倒をやめよ

Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate for fiscal 2013 stood at 39 percent on a calorie basis, remaining unchanged for the fourth consecutive year. There is no prospect for the rate to rise to 50 percent, a key goal set by the government for its food security policy.
　昨年度の食料自給率は３９％（カロリー換算）で、４年続けて横ばいだった。政府が目標とする５０％への道筋は、全く見えないのが実情である。

On a calorie basis, even Japanese-raised beef is not regarded as a 100 percent domestically produced food if the cattle have been raised on imported feed.
　カロリー換算では、国産牛でも飼料を輸入に頼れば「１００％自給」ではなくなる。

Japanese consumers have become highly price-conscious, while many Japanese farm products are priced much higher than imports. Given this reality, it is probably not wise to treat the self-sufficiency rate on a calorie basis as a vital indicator of food security.
消費者が安さを求め、価格では海外産に太刀打ちできない品目が少なくない現状を考えると、カロリー換算の数値を絶対視することは賢明だろうか。

It is certainly important for the government to make efforts to increase domestic food production. But the government could end up spending huge amounts of money on ineffective policies if it focuses too much on raising the self-sufficiency rate.
　国内での生産をできるだけ増やそうとする姿勢は大切だが、自給率の引き上げにこだわりすぎれば、効果の乏しい政策に巨費を投じることになりかねない。

A case in point is the policy of encouraging farmers to give up growing rice and switch to wheat and soybeans as part of the acreage-reduction program to lower domestic rice production.
その代表例は、コメの生産調整（減反）とセットで進めてきた麦や大豆などへの転作奨励策だろう。

The idea is to reduce rice production in response to sagging domestic rice consumption while trying to raise the food self-sufficiency rate by using surplus rice fields to grow crops that the nation buys from other countries in large amounts.
　減り続けるコメの消費に合わせて生産を絞る。余った田んぼで輸入頼みの作物を作れば、自給率も上がる。

At first glance, this seems to be a sound idea. Under this approach, however, state subsidies to rice farmers switching to growing other crops tend to keep rising while the cost effectiveness of the measure remains unclear.
　一見合理的だが、「費用対効果」があいまいなまま、転作補助金は膨らみがちだ。

In fact, domestic production of wheat and soybeans has failed to increase significantly in the face of competition from cheaper imports. The total acreage of deserted farmland has kept increasing.
安い外国産に押される麦や大豆の生産は頭打ちで、現に耕作放棄地は増え続けている。

The government has decided on a major change in its rice policy. Under the new policy, a farmland control organization set up in each prefecture will be used to promote consolidation of rice fields and lower production costs. The government will terminate the acreage reduction program in four years.
　政府はコメ政策を転換すると決めた。県ごとに置く機構を通じて田の集約と生産コスト削減を進め、４年後には国は減反から手を引く。

The new policy will still be based on the same principle of adjusting production to demand.
　それでも、需要に合わせて作るという考え方はそのままだ。

The government plans to encourage farmers to grow rice to be used as livestock feed instead of growing wheat or soybeans. But this approach could end up creating a new inefficient subsidy-based program.
麦や大豆から家畜に食べさせる飼料用米に力を入れる方針だが、非効率な補助金行政が温存されかねない。

The acreage reduction program has distorted Japanese rice production toward high-end crops that are delicious but pricey. Farmers should be encouraged to do more to produce lower-priced rice as well.
　減反政策がもたらした「おいしくて高級」に偏ったコメ作りを多様化し、「より安く」も追求する。

Boosting the price competitiveness of rice will expand Japanese rice exports and help protect the foundation of domestic production. The government should step up farm policy efforts focused on these goals, especially for rice, the nation’s staple food.
競争力を高めることが輸出への道を開き、国内生産の基盤を守ることにつながる。主食であるコメを中心に、そうした取り組みを進めるべきだ。

It is also vital to strengthen Japan’s relations with major food producing countries to secure stable supplies while reducing food losses caused by disposal and leftovers.
　海外からの調達が安定するよう相手国との関係を強め、廃棄や食べ残しによる「食品ロス」を減らすことも欠かせない。

From this point of view, it is notable that the economic partnership agreement Japan and Australia signed in July includes a provision that commits the two nations to make efforts not to introduce and maintain export restrictions.
　その意味で、日豪経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）に「輸出規制を新設・維持しないよう努める」といった規定を盛り込んだことは注目に値する。

The government should try to secure a similar promise from other exporting countries of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products.
豪州以外の農畜水産物の輸出国からも同様の約束を取り付けてほしい。

Japan’s annual food losses have been estimated by the government to be 5 million to 8 million tons, roughly the same amount as annual rice production.
　食品ロスは政府の推計で年５００万～８００万トンとされ、コメの生産量にも匹敵する。

There are many steps that can be taken immediately to reduce food losses. The retail industry, for example, can contribute to the cause by changing its practice of rejecting food products when the period until the best-before date is not long enough. Families, for their part, can improve their dietary habits.
賞味期限から逆算して商品の受け取りに厳しく臨む小売業界の慣行を見直し、家庭での食生活を改めるなど、ただちに取り組めることは少なくない。

Efforts to ensure food security should be more diversified, instead of being focused solely on raising the food self-sufficiency rate.
　食の確保は、自給率頼みでなく、多角的に考えたい。

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 17