Japan pushing for investments in overseas farming

Japan will help local companies invest in agricultural production and distribution overseas to ensure domestic food security.

 

Japan is considering providing loans from state-owned bank for companies to purchase and lease farmland abroad, according to Hirano Munemitsu, counselor at the international affairs department of the agriculture ministry.

 

The government may also use foreign aid to improve infrastructure such as storage and port facilities in developing countries, Hirano said.

 

Japan imports 60 percent of its food requirements and purchased nearly all of its corn from the US last year. Food importers such as South Korea and Saudi Arabia are also looking to increase its overseas agricultural investments.

 

Japan cannot stop importing grain and the country does not have enough arable land to meet domestic needs, Hirano said Friday (Apr 24). He said Japan also needs to diversify supply sources as the country is heavily reliant on imports from the US.

 

The government is coordinating with the state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Japan International Cooperation Agency, a foreign aid provider, to decide by August details of its strategy for overseas agricultural investment, Hirano said.

 

The plan may cover investments in countries in Latin America, Central Asia and Eastern Europe for supply of corn, soy and wheat, Hirano said, citing Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Romania and Hungary as possible investment targets.

 

Japan is also considering making payments from government-affiliated Nippon Export and Investment Insurance to cover damages if companies are unable to ship from their overseas farms or storage facilities because of export curbs, Hirano said.

 

Japan aims to boost its food self-sufficiency to 45 percent by 2015 and to 50 percent in the long-term to protect consumers from volatile global prices. Japan would need 17 million hectares of farmland to be fully self-sufficient, and the country currently has an area of less than five million hectares, Hirano said.

 

Japan imported 16.5 million tonnes of corn last year, with 99 percent supplied by the US. Japan also purchased 3.71 million tonnes of soy last year, and imported 4.86 million tonnes of wheat in the year ended March 31.