By 2050, the government has committed to meeting several sustainability commitments under its new National Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems, including a 50% reduction in the use of chemical pesticides, a 30% reduction in the use of chemical fertilizers. and a minimum 30% increase in food manufacturing productivity. .
“Japan is currently facing major challenges in the form of an aging population, stagnant rural communities, climate change, and an increase in natural disasters and disrupted supply chains due to the COVID-19 pandemic,”The Japan Environmental Policy Division, located within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) said when launching the strategy.
“We have also found the urgent need to establish a sustainable food system [aligned with] international sustainability policies such as the EU’s “Farm to Fork” strategy and the US Agricultural Innovation Agenda.
“The goal of this new strategy is to achieve a triple victory in sustainability: economic sustainability with a robust and resilient food system, social sustainability with better livelihoods and diets, and environmental sustainability to save the ecosystem for future generations.”
Within the new strategy, great attention has been paid to organic food production: one of the commitments is to increase organic agriculture to one million hectares or 25% of all agricultural land in Japan by 2050.
“Technology will be key to expanding Japan’s organic food production; this will include the use of automation and artificial intelligence when it comes to making pesticide use decisions to reduce the need for pesticides so that by 2050 organic production can be implemented on one million hectares of farmland. “Said the ministry.
“[The focus on technology is crucial here] As the average age of our farmers is decreasing, in 1995 the number of farmers under the age of 70 was 2.05 million and the average age was 59.6 years. This figure fell to 1.35 million under the age of 70 in 2005, with an average age increasing to 64.2 years, and only 930,000 under the age of 70 in 2016, an average age of 67 years.
“This decline and aging of the agricultural population may threaten viable agricultural production [and] Technological advances are needed to drive this viability. For example, AI can be used to optimize supply and demand forecasts to reduce food loss and waste and maximize producer profits.
“There will also be significant R&D to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides in order to expand organic food production. [in line with] our sustainability goals. “
With the problem of aging populations in mind, Japan is also focusing on increasing automation and the use of artificial intelligence in food manufacturing, in hopes of mitigating the looming labor shortage and increasing productivity. .
“Food manufacturing is one of the sectors with the lowest productivity. [So] By 2050, we aim to have fully automated unmanned production lines available that can use AT to support the use of a wide variety of raw materials and inputs, [to be compatible with] Japan’s Diverse Food Culture “Said the ministry.
“Robotics is a promising technology to develop in this industry to alleviate the problem of labor shortages that we also intend to develop in the long term.
“We have chosen to focus on productivity over greenhouse gas emissions for this industry, as our research has shown that 80% of greenhouse gases emitted from the food system are not found in the manufacturing process of food, but in the activities before and after. “
Improving a healthy diet through technology
In separate documentation, MAFF also highlighted consumer health as an important part of the country’s sustainable development, and revealed plans to establish an information cloud service to help consumers personalize their meals according to their health conditions.
The cloud would incorporate consumers’ dietary history, medical history, online search information, and more to provide scientifically optimized food and dietary proposals.
“All of this information will be used as big data to find the best possible meals for consumers of all ages and demographics. Data from the gut microbiome and even genetic information, if available, would be incorporated to optimize results. “Said the ministry.
“Our goal is to develop this service so that it is not only available locally, but also abroad.”
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