The government's new target of raising Japan's self-sufficiency in food to 45 percent in 10 years — compared with the previous target of 50 percent — may be more plausible because it's closer to reality. Still, the question remains whether it is appropriate to retain food self-sufficiency as a major yardstick in the nation's agriculture policy.
The new target is featured in the government's basic agriculture plan, which has been updated every five years since 2000 to set the direction of farming policy. The earlier plan adopted in 2010 by the Democratic Party of Japan administration then in power called for increasing Japan's calorie-based rate of food self-sufficiency to 50 percent by fiscal 2020, but the actual figure remained roughly flat at 39 percent for the four years up to fiscal 2013.
Japan's calorie-based self-sufficiency rate, which stood at 73 percent in 1965, has steadily declined for decades as people's lifestyles and dietary habits changed. After dipping below 50 percent in 1989 and experiencing subsequent ups and downs, the rate has largely hovered around 40 percent since 1997. The 50 percent goal was obviously unrealistic and the reduction to 45 percent may only be natural.