Community Vitalization and Rebuilding of Small Rural Economies: A Focus on Less Favored Areas in Japan

This book provides new perceptions of rural community development by considering the relationships between communities and individuals. It addresses how farming and local communities can be maintained in areas facing population decline and increased in abandoned farmland. As a sequel to Farm and Rural Community Management in Less-Favored Areas, this book focuses on the conditions for rebuilding small rural economies through rural community vitalization in less-favored areas of Japan. Key topics addressed in the book include farmland liquidation and conservation, along with applicable agricultural policies, agribusiness development under a broad-based community development process, the market characteristics of locally processed foods, and the relationship between participation in broad-based community management and residents’ characteristics. The primary target are hilly and mountainous regions, such as in Shimane Prefecture, in western Japan, and other mountainous areas that are the main less-favored areas in Japan. The book presents findings from econometric and statistical analyses, historical and actual condition surveys. Academically, the book contributes to the elucidation of community-based regional management through interactions between communities, residents, farmers, and policies. It identifies conditions for rebuilding small rural economies are based on research on the characteristics of regional agriculture and rural communities in less-favored areas. This book is written for researchers, graduate students, and readers who are concerned about agriculture-based rural development in less-favored areas. It promotes both public and field-level practice in rural areas. The content will be of interest to all those seeking to understand rural society in Japan.