Before I make these suggestions, allow me to back myself up with the fact that I DO NOT have experience in the environmental sciences, agriculture or economics, and that I am basing these opinions on research that I have been doing. Thanks.
A lot of the sources I have found online pertaining to the potential food crisis in Tokyo all seem to point their fingers at the effects of westernization/globalization of Japanese diets. Where the traditional diet of Japanese people included a lot of fish, rice and vegetable, we are now seeing an increase in fast food chains, and other Western influences on how these people eat. This has caused an increase need for meat, dairy and cereal grains throughout Japan. This problem is also impacted by an aging farming population, sometimes even leaving potentially viable farm lands abandoned because they can no longer tend to them, and do not have someone to step up and take their place.
First, I could suggest that those of us who live in 'Western' countries change our own dietary practices. If how we eat and live on a daily basis is reflecting over to areas such as Japan, perhaps if we were to change how we live, we could see a change there as well. Disposing of some of the fast food chains, convienence foods, etc, and having ourselves rely much more on what is available to us naturally would not only be setting the stage for others to model our behaviour, but also help us fight our own demons, specifically the Obesity Epidemic. This suggestion however is more so wishful thinking on my part. The likelihood of us changing our ways now may be slim, but it never hurts to dream.
Second - we could help them produce what they import in their own country. Part of the problem is that they are importing materials that are not native to them, in order to sustain the changes in their diet. Costs of these imported goods are also rising, making them harder to bring in and thus contributing to the shortages. Perhaps if there was a way to be able to bring these resources into Japan, and find a way to keep them there, we could see some improvement. Most of the farmlands in Japan are designed to sustain rice, and overall Japan is seeing a decrease in its rice consumption per capita, that is being replaced with an increase in wheat. There is potential that certain farmlands in Japan could sustain cereal grains in the dry season, however this would require willingness on the parts of farmers to invest in land improvements to make the soil both convertible and sustainable. This could be a real possibility, although many farmers are unwilling to make such an investment as there is lack in secure land rights. If upon entering Japan we could figure out a way to win secure land rights to these farmers, we could see the improvements made in the land to be able to sustain these crops, and help make Japan more self-sufficient.
Third - With the aging farmer problem, the above mentioned suggestion may not be able to be put into effect, regardless of obtaining secure land rights or not. To counter this, we could push for more agricultural education in schooling, specifically post-secondary education. The shift of learning has shifted so much towards technological advances, that the farming trade has tended to fall by the wayside. I'm not sure how this would work with the governmental structure of Japan, but perhaps by figuring out a way to provide economically affordable incentives to students willing to pursue careers in agriculture, we could get an influx of new and upcoming farmers, to counter with the aging out population we are currently presented with.
These are just a couple rudimentary ideas, but hey you never know, they may actually work at some point in the future. Feel free to add onto them or constructively criticize them.
References
http://www.cropscience.org.au/icsc2004/symposia/5/1/1408_pingalip.htmhttp://current.com/19ar64c
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