The pledge by the Group of Seven farm chiefs this weekend to enhance efforts to secure stable food supplies poses both a challenge and an opportunity for Japan, a country in need of reform in its agriculture sector to lift low food-sufficiency.
Ministers and representatives from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States agreed during their two-day meeting in the city of Niigata to promote measures that address the world's aging farmers.
They also stressed the importance of raising agricultural productivity to increase food production to meet demand from the world's growing population.