東アジアにおけるアグロフオレストリ-の特質とその成立条件

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Recently tropical countries have been faced with a serious shortage of food due to the high-rate of increase of the population as well as with the depletion of forestland. In such a critical situation, the Southeast Asian nations have begun to promote a system of production called agroforestry to some extent since more than ten years ago, to achieve the double purpose of reforestation and agricultural development. In 1983-1985 a joint research project on agroforestry was conducted in Japan, Thailand and Indonesia. In using the observations and the data collected during this under taking, this paper intends to describe the socio-economic characteristics and conditions necessry for the existence of agroforestry in these countries. As observed in the case of Sanpoku-cho in Niigata prefecture, in present-day Japan, the five socio-economic conditions required for the existence of Yakihata ringyo (Agroforesty of Taunya type) are as follows: 1) The presence of an exclusive large and middle-scale ownership in forestland, 2) the presence of lower-class people who have scarcely enough forestland, though they do not lack food because they own some arable land and they can also obtain a wage income, 3) the migration of lower-class male people to the field of industry and the decrese in the population in the rural areas due to the expansion of the industrial labour market, and the presence of farm women remaining at home who wish to practice swidden-cultivation for deriving cash income from a commodity crop, 4) the establishment of a distribution market for such commodity crop, 5) and lastly, the willingness of and motivation to afforestation on the part of the large and middle scale forest owners. These conditions as a whole are deemed to contribute now to the realization of yakihata ringyo, in which the lower-class farm women cultivates crops for a cash income in forests belonging to large and middle scale owners who are willing to plant trees in an economical way. These may be considered to be the necessary conditions for the existence of Yakihata ringyo in a mature stage of the modern industrial society. In the case of Sanpoku-cho in Niigata Prefecture, the steady demend for red turnip, which fetches a high price attracts an increasingly large number of farm women into its production. However, over-production by too many competitive cultivators, should inevitably lower the price, which then may probably result in a change of labour from swidden-cultivation to the industry always in demand and easily obtainable inside and outside the villages. Already some incipient signs of such change can be perceived. Therefore, it may be said that Yakihata ringyo presently is unstable, especially when it lacks political and financial support from the government. Today, in Thailand and Indonesia, agroforestry, with the strong support from the government, is functioning as an effective measure for economical afforestation of the national forests and also for assisting the poor farmers and laborers. Accordingly,agroforestry must be further promoted as in both countries the necessary conditions for this practice are being met. Indeed in both Indonesia and Thailand the society is centered on agriculture and forestry. Their economy is of the commodity type, which tends to increase the demand for cultivation among the rural poor. In Japan which is a modern industrial society, agroforestry is unstable, for most of the labour in the rural areas has been absorbed into the industrial labour market. However, to make agroforestry in Thailand and Indonesia more successful on a firm basis, it is indispensable to solve the problems of forestland ownership. I hope that each government will meet the requirements of the rural people, consolidate their cyclic structure of production and improve their living conditions, by reforming the present system of forestland ownership so that these people can own or use some portion of the national forest. It is imperative for each government to design a regional plan for a system which harmonizes afforestation by the rural people, protection of the forest by them along with their economic benefit.
信州大学農学部附属演習林の論文
1987-10-00

東アジアにおけるアグロフオレストリ-の特質とその成立条件

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信州大学農学部附属演習林 | 論文

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