City Residents Volunteer for Agricultural Program

Since 1999, the Japan Agricultural Cooperative Tourism Association has run a farming support team called "The Farming Helper Cats". The association has been working on deepening exchanges between farming villages and cities through a working holiday program in farming villages, in which volunteers support farming. The team name comes from a Japanese expression used when a person is so busy and desperate enough to ask for help, even from a cat.

The team allows people from cities to volunteer as farm laborers in farming villages in their spare time. Various types of farm work is available in many areas, such as harvesting apples in Nagano Prefecture, harvesting Japanese persimmons in Aichi Prefecture, harvesting mandarin oranges in Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture, placing shiitake mushroom mycelia into logs in Omiya Ward, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture and cutting axillary buds from carnations in Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture.

In the case of Nagano Prefecture, the apple harvest starts in the latter half of November; however, due to the arrival of snow in December, the actual harvest period is approximately two weeks. Farmers are typically very busy and are desperate to seek help from "cats." In some areas, farmers of advanced age also struggle to harvest their apples. This activity therefore allows volunteers from cities to perform farm work in these areas.

People who are aged over 18 years, living in cities and motivated to work on farms are able to join the team. When applicants complete the admission procedures together with their registration, they are also entitled to various privileges.

Japan's Fukui Prefecture Extends Regional Agricultural Support to 573 Villages (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/029990.html

Posted: 2011/02/26 06:00:15 AM