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Two months have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine. Both countries are the world’s leading exporters of wheat. Japan depends on foreign countries for most of its food supply, but depending on the future situation, it may be difficult to import food.Serialization“Agriculture Great Forecast”# 5 gives my thoughts on the secrets and directions that farmers should take for food security. (Kazuma Nishitsuji, CEO of MYFARM)
In the background of the military invasion of Ukraine
What Japan’s food security must think regarding
There is a war between Ukraine and Russia, which is a large-scale wheat producing area that exports a lot to the world and produces regarding 30%. As a result, wheat prices rose considerably from February to March. Some economists are optimistic that “Japan imports very little wheat from Russia and Ukraine, so don’t worry.”
However, because the world is connected, the inability to harvest wheat in Ukraine raises the price of wheat, especially in Europe. As a result, the wheat from the United States and Canada, which Japan normally imports, will be given priority to Europe, and the amount of wheat that enters Japan in a billiard accident will decrease. In short, it is not just a problem for Russia, Ukraine and Japan, but it must be viewed from the perspective of global wheat demand. In that sense, food security needs to become more sensitive to the risks of world affairs.
The menu of pasta at Italian restaurants says “use durum semolina”, but the wheat is made in Russia and Ukraine. In Italy, many wheats are actually imported. But pasta is Italy. In other words, Italy imports wheat, processes it into pasta and turns it into their own brand.
Of course, if we want to eat pasta made only from Italian wheat, the price will increase, and the scarcity value will increase, but the demand will decrease as the price increases. The same can be said for Japanese udon noodles. What was captured in the scheme of “Japan and Ukraine” becomes more and more severe without the view of Japan in the world.
Under such circumstances, how should farmers and consumers respond to secure food in a stable manner?
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