Views on Food Production: Towards a New Green Revolution

Farm Management,

A study on the cost and willingness to recruit EPA foreign nurses and care workers in Japan: from the angle of hospitals and care facilities

Japan started accepting foreign nurses and care workers under the Economic Partnership Agreement（ EPA） in FY 2008. However, the number has been declining since FY2009 despite improved conditions. Many pointed out that the decline occurred mainly due to the constraints of supply side because the conditionality set by the EPA looked so strict for foreign workers. This paper highlights a problem of demand side ? economic cost for the hospitals and care facilities（ the employers）. A questionnaire survey was conducted and used for examining a hypothesis that high costs for the employers were a major cause of the decline. The survey revealed that employing the candidates required high economic costs including additional staff labor. Majority of employers indicated unwillingness to recruit further EPA candidates. However, statistical tests proved no significant relations between the costs and the willingness for nurses, while some positive relationships were confirmed for care workers. It suggests that non-economic factors exert strong influence on the demand for nurses. The current EPA system needs substantial modifications including easing conditionality and reducing economic costs for employers

Changes in the Food Situation in Asian Emerging Countries and a Direction for Japanese Agriculture

Recent price hikes in the world food market have renewed the food security concerns of many Japanese who had long been anxious about the country's falling food self-sufficiency rates and the declining domestic agricultural sector. This paper first reviews recent turmoil in the world food market and shows that neither rising food demand in Asian emerging countries nor low levels of world food stocks were the main cause, but the biofuel policies undertaken by the EU and the US, coupled with the oil boom, have had the most significant impact on world food prices. Then by examining the food situation and policies in China, India and ASEAN countries the paper argues that they will not threaten world food security because their demand for grains will not rise as has been expected due to declining staple food consumption and a slow growth in meat demand. It is suggested that in light of rising income they would rather offer huge markets for high value farm products. Japanese agriculture, which has been suffering from the small size of farms and a rapidly aging farm labor force, should not time in capturing the opportunities that these new-rich neighbors can present. The exports of safe and quality products as well as agro-tourism will be most promising areas

Factors associated with the recruitment of foreign nurses in Japan: a nationwide study of hospitals

Background: Nurse migration under bilateral agreements is a recent global trend, although lack of consultation with the health industries has led to challenges in the recruitment of foreign nurses by hospitals. To analyze the prevailing perception of hospitals on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), under which Japan opened the doors to foreign nurses, we surveyed hospitals that are yet to employ foreign nurses. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was developed and distributed to eligible hospitals; it assessed managers’ perception of Japan’s policy on the recruitment of foreign nurses and their intentions to hire foreign nurses under the EPA (hereafter called EPA nurses).We randomly selected 1879 hospitals, or 22% of the hospitals in Japan (n = 8540), with more than 20 beds. We used descriptive statistics, a Chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis to identify the predictors and developed a model to predict the likelihood of their intention to recruit EPA nurses in the future. Results: In total, 432 hospitals were eligible for further analysis (response rate: 22.9%). Half (50%) of the hospital managers were considerably interested in Japan’s policy on recruiting EPA nurses, although only 20% intended to recruit EPA nurses in the future. Willingness to recruit EPA nurses was associated with the degree of interest in the policy (OR 9.38; 95% CI 4.42?19.90) and managers’ perception of EPA nurses (OR 5.32, 95% CI 2.38?11.89). Conclusions: To attract more hospitals to recruit foreign nurses, it is essential for the Japanese government and the sending countries to review their EPA systems. Utilizing returning nurses to assist language acquisition by the forthcoming EPA nurses could be a provisional solution. For a more fundamental solution, long-term provision, from prior to their migration until their return migration, is needed to encourage brain circulation, as opposed to brain drain,between sending and receiving countries

An Observation on the Long-term Changes in Agrieultural Produetivity Gaps in Asia

Asian agriculture has shown a remarkable progress over the last half a century. Asia has been the most successful region in fighting against hunger. The progress, however, has not visited evenly all the countries. We still see enormous disparities in crop yields and farm incomes among Asian countries. Cross country comparisons have revealed a staged dissemination of green revolution technologies, which resulted in the leveling-off, rather than disparities, of land productivity among Asian countries. It is the labor productivity that has amplified disparities among countries. Two major driving forces have been identified: shift in labor force to other sectors and shift in production to non-traditional sectors including agribusinesses. Labor productivity soared where the number of farmers declined sharply. It also rose in countries where agricultural production shifted to livestock or non-traditional products. With a continued peace and political stability the agriculture sector of less advanced Asian countries will quickly catch up with advanced countries as being proven in China, Thailand and Vietnam.アジアの農業は過去半世紀に急速な発展を見た。アジアは飢えとの戦いで最も成功した地域である。しかし国別に見ると収量や農業所得になお著しい格差が見られる。国別比較分析の結果、緑の革命の技術はアジア諸国に段階的に普及し、その結果、土地生産性については格差拡大ではなく平準化が見られることがわかった。国別格差が拡大したのは労働生産性で、農業労働力の他部門への移動及び需要に対応した生産のシフトが起きたかどうかが鍵であった。アジア低開発途上国の農業は、今後平和な環境が続けば、中国、タイ、ベトナムが成し遂げつつあるように、他の先進国に急速にキャッチアップしていくであろう

A study on the cost and willingness to recruit EPA foreign nurses and care workers in Japan: from the angle of hospitals and care facilities

Japan started accepting foreign nurses and care workers under the Economic Partnership Agreement（ EPA） in FY 2008. However, the number has been declining since FY2009 despite improved conditions. Many pointed out that the decline occurred mainly due to the constraints of supply side because the conditionality set by the EPA looked so strict for foreign workers. This paper highlights a problem of demand side ? economic cost for the hospitals and care facilities（ the employers）. A questionnaire survey was conducted and used for examining a hypothesis that high costs for the employers were a major cause of the decline. The survey revealed that employing the candidates required high economic costs including additional staff labor. Majority of employers indicated unwillingness to recruit further EPA candidates. However, statistical tests proved no significant relations between the costs and the willingness for nurses, while some positive relationships were confirmed for care workers. It suggests that non-economic factors exert strong influence on the demand for nurses. The current EPA system needs substantial modifications including easing conditionality and reducing economic costs for employers

生産者支持推定量（PSE）によるアジア途上国農政改革動向分析

High economic growth and globalization in the last two decades have forced many Asian governments to accelerate agricultural policy reforms. They have been under increasing pressures from WTO, FTAs and consumers to reduce agricultural supports and pay more attentions to food safety and the environment. However, the complexity and volatility of agricultural policies mask which directions they are moving to and how they benefit producers and consumers as a whole. This paper has tried to analyze the directions and the size of policy transfers among stakeholders in selected Asian countries by applying the PSEs (producer support estimates) methodologies which have long been utilized in analyzing and monitoring agricultural policies in developed countries. The tentative result indicates ; no clear trends in declining government supports ; central roles played by price policies, relatively low degree of supports, counter cyclical moves in supports against external shocks and a reverse in transfer direction between producers and consumers in some countries.近年のアジア諸国の農業政策は高度経済成長とグローバル化の中で大きく転換を迫られている。WTOなどから貿易障壁や市場介入､国内補助金の削減を求められる一方、国内の消費者からは、食の安全・環境問題など多面的な配慮が要請されるようになった｡しかし多くの国では農業政策は複雑で、全体としての受益や負担、あるいは政策の方向は必ずしも明らかでない。本稿はOECDで開発され、先進国の農政分析やモニタリングに活用されてきた生産者支持推定量(PSE) の分析手法を改良してアジアの数カ国に適用し、1990年以降のアジア諸国の農政の動きを定量的・包括的に検証するとともに、政策による政府、生産者、消費者の間の｢移転｣2のわかりやすい解明を試みた｡その結果､対象となった南アジア・東南アジア諸国では、政策改革の動きがPSEにはあまり表れてこないこと、農業保護は依然価格支持によるものが大半となっているが、その水準は高くなく為替や国際農産物価格などの外部ショックに対抗するように動いていること、一部諸国では農業政策が農業者課税から農業者支援へとシフトしていることなどが明らかになった