FOREWORD
 An
unexpected financial crisis hit the East and Southeast
Asian countries in 1997, putting their socio-economies
in turmoil. Banking systems were disrupted, while
many business activities had to cease. Local currencies
plummeted whereas domestic prices soared. The
social impact of the crisis has been very severe
as both unemployment and poverty have increased
significantly. While clear signals of economic
recovery have recently emerged in these countries,
the overall situation of Asian economies remains
opaque.
The financial and economic crisis hit the agriculture
sector as well: demand for agricultural commodities
stagnated; public expenditures for agriculture
declined due to limited budgets; and many urban
workers returned to their native villages for
the sake of survival. All of these have had an
adverse effect on agricultural productivity, income,
and employment in the rural sector where the majority
of the poor live. The impact may have been relatively
minor and short-lived in some cases, but could
be more profound and long-lasting where the disruptions
were sufficiently large and long to cause capital
investment to dwindle, alter the nature of already
weak labor markets, and delay the recovery of
commodity demand.
To assess these impacts and learn lessons from
them, the APO organized the study meeting on the
Effects of the Financial Crisis on the Productivity
of Agriculture in Japan. This publication is a
compilation of the selected papers and proceedings
of the meeting. It is our hope that this publication
will provide useful lessons and insights to our
readers, especially planners, policymakers, and
researchers who are keen to devise better policies
and measures to cope with such sudden external
shocks while avoiding negative impacts on long-term
productivity growth in agriculture.
The APO is grateful to the Government of Japan,
especially the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries, for hosting the meeting, and to
the Association for International Cooperation
of Agriculture and Forestry for implementing the
program. Our appreciation also goes to the resource
persons for their valuable contributions and to
Dr. Tongroj Onchan for editing the publication.
– TAKASHI TAJIMA, APO Secretary-General,
Tokyo, April 2004
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