Japan's Contribution to Global Food Security

Although there are claims that population growth will cause a food crisis in 2050, the inflaton-adjusted real price of world grains has been declining for more than a century. This is because the increase in grain production has outpaced population growth. However, grain prices do spike in the short term. People in developing countries, who spend more than half of their income on food consumption, will starve if they cannot afford to buy grain when prices triple.

Grain exporting countries such as the U.S., Canada, and Australia export more than half of their production and do not restrict exports. In contrast, in developing countries, when international prices soar, grain flows out of the country for profit and domestic prices rise, causing starvation. Export restrictions in developing countries are intended to prevent such a situation. Demanding that developing countries not impose export restrictions despite starvation in the country is clearly unacceptable.

Unlike wheat and soybeans, which are exported by the U.S. and other developed countries, rice is largely exported by developing countries such as India, Thailand, and Vietnam, which export only a marginal portion of their production and tend to employ export restrictions. Global rice markets are extremely unstable. If Japan abolishes its rice acreage reduction and exports larger amounts of rice, it could make a significant contribution to global food security.