2023 KIP Project"A Survey of Youth Attitudes about Agriculture and other Primary Industries Comparing Australia and Japan"
In these days of various threats to global food production, such as climate change and the emergence of new viruses, we are conducting our research with the hope of “improving thesituation of primary food production in Japan”. In this research, we hope to make a small contribution towards Japan-Australia relationships related with food, and how to face the primary industries for youth in both countries.【Continuity with the 2022 KIP Project】
In 2022, we focused on the theme of youth community through food and found that eating together plays an important role in creating a place for young people. However, various issues related to food have been pointed out in Japan to begin with. In order to have access to food for ourselves in the future, we identified the "shortage of workers in the primary industry" as one of the most pressing issues. Therefore, we have launched this project with the purpose of identifying the difficulties for young people to get involved and change their impressions of food production.
【Research Methods】
1. Questionnaire survey of youth in Japan and Australia
How can we make young people, who will be the next generation of food production, want to be involved in the primary industry? We first conducted a questionnaire survey of 1,000 young people in Japan to find out them attitudes. The survey was conducted from the following three main perspectives.
(1) Young people’s impression of the primary industry
(2) Young people’s perception of primary industry as a future option and occupation
(3) Relationship between primary industry and social problems perceived by young people
The results are still being analyzed, and for example, we found that "Many young people consider the primary industry to be hard work," “Many young people want to be involved in agriculture as a hobby," etc.
These are important results when considering the future relationship between young people and agriculture and other primary industries. We plan to conduct the same survey of Australian youth this summer and compare the results with those in Japan.
2. Interviews with Australian farmers, livestock producers, and policy makers
After returning to Japan, based on what we have learned in Australia, we are considering conducting interviews with farmers in Japan.
3. Surveys in Japan
In addition to conducting a survey of Japanese youth, we are also conducting literature research on previous studies related to this topic and advanced agricultural, fisheries, and livestock industry methods. Upon our return from Australia, we plan to share our learnings, based on the knowledge gained from interviews, lectures, discussions, and farm tours in Australia.