What does the U.S. Agribusiness Industry Demand of Japan in the TPP Negotiations? : Problems revealed in the congressional hearings and the USTR public comment procedures

The main objective of this paper is to clarify how and in what way the U.S. agribusiness industry is asserting its influence in the process of policy making and negotiations on the Trans‐Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), by taking into account the characteristics of the procedures in the U.S. trade negotiations and business networks of influence and lobbying. Then, the paper will go on to delve into the detail of what the U.S. industry and trade organisations and individual corporations have actually been demanding during the TPP negotiations, particularly in relation to Japan's commitment to the agreement. The subtle divergences of interests among agribusiness subsectors will be taken into consideration when analysing the details of submitted comments and relevant statements. Although it is non‐agricultural issues such as the deregulation of the financial and service sectors, strengthening of intellectual property rights, enforcement of investor protection, and disciplining of government procurement rules that are the focus of many of documents and statements issued by cross‐sector business associations, the discussion in the paper is restricted to agriculture and food related industries

FARMERS' SEED SYSTEM AND THE INSTITUTIONALISATION OF GENETIC RESOURCE USE AND MANAGEMENT IN AGRICULTURE: A CASE OF SEED SUPPLY FOR LOCAL TRADITIONAL VEGETABLES IN JAPAN

N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5International audienceNearly all countries have seed laws and technical regulations to govern their formal seed system, run by formal public organisations and private seed companies, while the role of the farmers' seed system has been marginalised especially in developed countries. Local traditional varieties that are largely taken care of and nurtured by farmers' seed system have also been excluded from the formal seed system. Nowadays, however, it is quite common to see locally-sourced vegetables on supermarket shelves, while an increasing number of consumers visit farmers' market and become aware of local traditional vegetables available only through such channels. It is in this context that many local governments, public agricultural experimental stations, and even private seed companies are becoming interested in the use and management of local traditional varieties of vegetables in Japan. The objective of this paper is to elucidate some characteristics of and factors behind the condition, potentiality and limitations of farmers' seed systems vis-à-vis the expected role of public experimental stations and locally-based seed companies, especially when it comes to the use and management of local traditional vegetables and their genetic resources in Japan. This paper is based on our case studies, in which we conducted some interviews with relevant local actors in addition to literature and statistical surveys

Explaining Productivity Variation among Smallholder Maize Farmers in Tanzania

Using a stochastic frontier production model proposed by Battese and Coelli (1995), the paper estimates the levels of technical efficiency of 233 smallholder maize farmers in Tanzania and provides an empirical analysis of the determinants of inefficiency with the aim of finding way to increase smallholders’ maize production and productivity. Results shows that smallholder productivity is very low and highly variable, ranging form 0.01t/ha to 6.77t/ha, averaging 1.19t/ha. Technical efficiencies of smallholder maize farmers range from 0.011 to 0.910 with a mean of 0.606. Low levels of education, lack of extension services, limited capital, land fragmentation, and unavailability and high input prices are found to have a negative effect on technical efficiency. Smallholder farmers using hand-hoe and farmers with cash incomes outside their farm holdings (petty business) are found to more efficient. However, farmers who use agrochemicals are found to be less efficient. Policy implications drawn from the results include a review of agricultural policy with regard to renewed public support to revamp the agricultural extension system, and interventions towards improving market infrastructure in order to reduce the transaction element in the input and output marketing.Productivity variation; smallholder farmers; technical efficiency; maize; tanzania

Explaining Productivity Variation among Smallholder Maize Farmers in Tanzania

Using a stochastic frontier production model proposed by Battese and Coelli (1995), the paper estimates the levels of technical efficiency of 233 smallholder maize farmers in Tanzania and provides an empirical analysis of the determinants of inefficiency with the aim of finding way to increase smallholders’ maize production and productivity. Results shows that smallholder productivity is very low and highly variable, ranging form 0.01t/ha to 6.77t/ha, averaging 1.19t/ha. Technical efficiencies of smallholder maize farmers range from 0.011 to 0.910 with a mean of 0.606. Low levels of education, lack of extension services, limited capital, land fragmentation, and unavailability and high input prices are found to have a negative effect on technical efficiency. Smallholder farmers using hand-hoe and farmers with cash incomes outside their farm holdings (petty business) are found to more efficient. However, farmers who use agrochemicals are found to be less efficient. Policy implications drawn from the results include a review of agricultural policy with regard to renewed public support to revamp the agricultural extension system, and interventions towards improving market infrastructure in order to reduce the transaction element in the input and output marketing

A Criticl Observation on the Mainstream Discourse of "Biotechnology for the Poor"

This paper is a draft to be edited and submitted to the journal of Tailoring Biotechnologies.Since the late 1990s when massive backlash against genetically modified crops and food emerged worldwide, the mainstream political economic powers, so to say, the US government and transnational biotech companies, have been actively and deliberately engaged in the discourse of “biotechnology for the poor to combat the world hunger”. This line of discourse has been endorsed on several occasions of international gatherings as well as in epistemic community. The objective of this paper is to sort out and analyse critically the discourse put forward by the mainstreamers. Within the hegemonic ideological, political, and legal setting of biotechnology development, we have to look for the room for manoeuvre so that we can carefully make out alternative perspectives and frameworks to go beyond the never-ending pro-contra debate and then to re-appropriate and re-design biotechnology to fit in the socio-economic and bio-environmental context of the resource poor in the developing world. In order for this process to be theoretically reflected, we will refer to Gramsci’s concept of hegemony and counter-hegemony, as well as Feenberg’s concept of democratic rationalisation