Sustainable Food Production
Learning from Ishikawa’s Coastal Communities
The long coastlines and mountain ranges of Japan have been sustaining livelihoods for many centuries, part of a complex relationship between the sea, land, and people.
On the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, local communities have developed a food production system that makes use of local resources while maintaining a healthy ecological balance. Their symbiotic approach to sustainability holds valuable lessons for the rest of the world.
Photo: Miwa Higashimuki
Photo: Miwa Higashimuki
The iconic Shiroyone Senmaida rice terraces demonstrate how people can benefit from nature’s gifts and simultaneously protect them. As well as supporting rice cultivation, they provide a habitat for diverse species and help to protect the community against landslides.
But like every country, Japan faces challenges related to food production.
The Paradox of Industrial Food Production
Globalization, climate change, and evolving lifestyles have altered the way we produce and consume food. While Japan is known for its rich culinary tradition, it has one of the lowest food self-sufficiency ratios in the developed world, and the number of people working in food production is steadily declining.
The availability of industrially produced foodstuffs has seemingly alleviated the problem of food security — but with convenience and abundance come the downsides of environmental damage, greenhouse gas emissions, food waste, and poor nutrition.
To solve these challenges policymakers and the food industry are increasingly looking to more sustainable approaches like those practised in Ishikawa.
A Reverent Relationship with the Ocean
Chiharu Hayase is a local diver who harvests seaweed and seafood in Noto waters. She belongs to a small but powerful community of ama female divers known for their traditional diving techniques that require no air tanks.
Photo: Chikako Furuya
Photo: Chikako Furuya
A witness to how the ocean has been impacted by climate change, overfishing, and pollution, Ms Hayase says:
“The sea environment has changed. I see new fishes around, and some of the native species are gone. We need to find a way to adapt to these conditions.”
“With the [air] tanks, they can hunt unlimitedly — that’s why some species populations have declined. I think it’s not right to only seek quantity.”
Native Species for Local Resilience
Quality over quantity is also championed by Yoshiharu Nizami, a farmer who grows the Ohama soybean, a native crop on Noto Peninsula. The beans mature in mid-November when the region experiences heavy snowfalls — much later than other soy varieties.
Although the harvesting process is laborious, Mr Nizami is strongly committed to cultivating the Ohama soybean. He believes that native species are more suited to the local climate and produce a higher quality yield, in addition to being an important element of local food culture. There is growing recognition that Japan’s agriculture sector will need to focus more on such high-value-added products.
Sustainability Mindset
The agricultural methods on the Noto Peninsula are part of a long tradition of sustainability found in satoyama and satoumi areas of Japan — places where human settlements (sato) meet the mountains (yama) and the sea (umi) to form ecosystems in which people and nature live in harmony.
Photo: FAO/Kazem Vafadari
Photo: FAO/Kazem Vafadari
Food production and consumption practices in these areas are rooted in an awareness of seasonal availability of different foods, resourceful preservation techniques, and the avoidance of waste.
In Noto, food is considered a gift from nature that should not be taken for granted. This simple idea can help to rethink the way food is produced and consumed around the world.
A Global Role Model
In 2011, the UN recognized Noto Peninsula as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems site, the first in an industrialized country. This has helped to highlight the vital role of local wisdom in global efforts for a more sustainable future.
The designation and management of the site has been supported by the UN University's Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) and its Operating Unit in Ishikawa. At UNU-IAS we have been providing scientific expertise and promoting Noto’s approach to food sustainability through projects with the local community, such as a children’s book. Based on research in Noto and other sites, we are advancing sustainable agriculture approaches that will help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Download Let's Make a Harvest Feast!
Download Let's Make a Harvest Feast!
Our unit in Kanazawa, Ishikawa. Photo: Miwa Higashimuki
Our unit in Kanazawa, Ishikawa. Photo: Miwa Higashimuki
Innovation through Tradition
In Japan, satoyama’s enduring model of sustainability has inspired a new generation of agricultural practitioners. The Yoshida Sake Brewery in Ishikawa’s Hakusan city uses regional rice strains grown in reclaimed fields by local farmers. The water used in the brewing process comes from the nearby mountains.
Conscious of their carbon footprint, the brewery has avoided the use of refrigeration to keep its sake fresh, focusing instead on making a product that can be bottled and distributed soon after pressing. In 2020 they switched to electricity from 100% renewable sources.
The need to adapt in times of global change while preserving traditional knowledge is always on the mind of the company president Yasuyuki Yoshida. He explains that the brewery aims to become energy self-sufficient through solar sharing and develop new products that embody the region’s unique character.
The approaches in use in Ishikawa offer proven solutions to improve the sustainability of food production and consumption. They can help to address the difficult challenges that have emerged as foodstuffs are increasingly produced, transported, and consumed long distances from their place of origin.
In Ishikawa and beyond we should take inspiration from local and traditional practices that respect biodiversity, minimize waste, provide quality nutrition, and increase local resilience.
To learn more about UNU-IAS research on sustainability, visit our website.
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