Tags：Food and AgricultureKyushu

On November 17th, the “Nature Farming Conference in Minamisatsuma to Commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Opening of the Nature Farming Experience School, “Ari no Mama Branch was held at the Kaseda Tsuneyoshi High School in Minamisatsuma City, Kagoshima Prefecture, and was attended by over 300 people, including local citizens and agricultural and government officials.

 

 

The Arinomama Branch School uses farmland outside the school’s Kaseda Tsuneyoshi High School, an agricultural high school in the city, and the MOA Nature Farming Culture Foundation provides technical guidance to train people to succeed in organic farming. Over the past nine years, 370 students have graduated, producing producers using nature farmingnature farming and organic farming methods. Minamisatsuma City declared itself an organic village in March 2023, as promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and at this conference, the branch school’s 10-year efforts were introduced in the hope of further expanding nature farming and organic farming.

 

 

 

The opening ceremony took place on the high school’s training farmland and following opening remarks by Mayor Teruo Motobo and a guest speech by Kagoshima Governor Koichi Shiota, the four attendees, including Councilor Seiko Hashimoto and Arinomama Branch Principal Koichi Yoshida, signed a commemorative shovel to mark the 10th anniversary. A ceremony was held in which the guests and student representatives from the high school poured leaf mold into the farmland, and then the participants went into the field and helped plant onion seedlings.

 

 

The venue then moved to the high school gymnasium, where Councilor Hashimoto gave a keynote speech titled “Focusing on nature farming and organic farming – towards preventive medicine, healthy community enrichment, and regional revitalization.” Citing the health management of athletes at the Tokyo Olympics as an example, she explained that in order to solve the issues of extending the nation’s lifespan and reducing medical and nursing care costs, it is important to focus on health promotion through care such as prevention and health management rather than cure (treatment). She also touched on the importance of agriculture and food, which are essential to human health, and explained the current situation in Japan, where food self-sufficiency is low. She said that in order to protect the country’s food and the lives and health of its people, it is necessary to expand organic farming, as envisioned in the Green Food System Strategy, and praised the work of the Arinomama Branch School in nurturing producers. As an example from another prefecture, she introduced an agricultural experience held as part of comprehensive studies for elementary school students in Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture, and expressed his hope that human and town development through food and agriculture will be promoted all over Japan.

 

 

A panel discussion was held entitled “The efforts of the Arinomama Branch School and Organic Village and future challenges,” moderated by Michihiro Moriyama, an extension officer at the MOA Nature Farming Culture Foundation, and panelists from various positions related to the Arinomama Branch School made presentations.

 

Hitoshi Genouzono, chief of Minamisatsuma City’s Agriculture Promotion Department, introduced various initiatives that have been carried out based on the branch school. Such examples he shared included experiential classes under an agreement with a high school in the city, accepting agricultural trainees from inside and outside the prefecture, the Nature Farming and Organic Vegetable Promotion Committee established in collaboration with graduates of the branch school, which provides school lunches and holds food education classes, and branding of “natural vegetables.”

 

Principal Yoshida introduced the school’s curriculum, which involves a year-long course of learning about nature farming soil preparation, cultivation management, processing, and sales. He showed students practicing the course and expressing their joy, saying that the school is developing talented people in line with the slogan, “Cultivate the soil, grow vegetables, and grow people.”

 

Kiyo Tahara, vice-leader of the Nature Farming Experience School support group and a graduate of the school’s first year, explained that graduates have joined the support group to support the branch school’s vegetable cultivation and harvest festival. She spoke about her experience of visiting Ohito Zuisenkyô (Izunokuni City, Shizuoka Prefecture) and visiting cutting-edge farms, as well as her own experience of practicing nature farming and changing her diet, which has helped to alleviate her allergy symptoms, including hay fever.

 

Masatake Fukumoto, chairman of the Nature Farming and Organic Vegetable Promotion Committee, studied at the branch school and became a natural farming producer, and then founded the committee in collaboration with fellow producers and the government. He introduced initiatives such as supporting new farmers, cultivating and supplying vegetables for school lunches, operating a direct sales website for the “Arinomama Oyasai” brand and developing merchandise, and said that what makes his work rewarding is seeing the smiles of his colleagues and the happy voices of people eating his vegetables.

 

 

Local high school students gave presentations on what they learned through their experiential learning. The students of Kaseda Tsuneharu High School announced their view that sustainable agriculture contributes to curbing climate change and conserving biodiversity and also leads to people’s health. He explained what they have learned over the past year, which included cultivation training, visits to the Environment and Health Research Institute (Public Interest Foundation), Natural Farming College of the Agriculture in Izunokuni City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and a local agricultural high school, as well as exchanges with the Arinomama Branch School. Students from the private Kibougaoka Gakuen Houou High School gave a presentation on nature farming, organizing it from the perspective of the SDGs as a sustainable form of agriculture that has a low environmental impact and is highly safe. In a special lecture, Yoshifumi Tasaka, principal of the Nature Farming College, was invited to present images of the cultivation and harvesting of radishes, carrots, and cabbages, and the students talked about how they were impressed with the feel of the soil and the growth of the crops during their agricultural training.

 

 

In addition, agricultural products produced at the branch school and nature farming processed foods will be sold at the venue. During the intermission, the local Kinpo Gongen Taiko drummers put on a spirited performance that was met with rapturous applause from the audience.

 

 

One of the prefecture’s agricultural policy officials who attended the lecture commented, “We hope that the number of local governments declaring themselves organic villages will continue to increase. Minamisatsuma City is taking on a model initiative, and I think its cooperative relationship with the MOA Nature Farming Culture Foundation is also a cutting-edge model. In particular, the hands-on learning for high school students and the children of branch school students working on the farm together will increase opportunities for exposure to agriculture, and I think this will be a step towards nurturing the next generation.”

 

Organized by Minamisatsuma City, Nature Farming Experience School Arinomama Branch, Nature Farming and Organic Vegetable Promotion Committee, MOA Nature Farming Culture Foundation