Non-Market Food Provision and Sharing in Japan’s Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes

Osamu Saito, Chiho Kamiyama and Shizuka Hashimoto
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Osamu Saito: United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, Tokyo 150-8925, Japan
Chiho Kamiyama: United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, Tokyo 150-8925, Japan
Shizuka Hashimoto: Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) are characterized by a dynamic mosaic of different ecosystem types that maintain relatively high biodiversity and produce a bundle of ecosystem services. One unique characteristic of SEPLS is the sharing of provisioning services within and beyond communities, such as forests, agricultural and marine products. Conventional ecosystem assessments based on statistical data often ignore the benefits of these non-market provisioning services. This short communication quantifies the contribution of the sharing of food provisioning services in Japan in terms of their amount and variety, and it analyzes the relationship between such sharing practices and landscape types. Using an online web survey, we investigated the benefits of sharing goods and services provided from SEPLS. In both mountainous and flat agricultural areas, 16% of the total food amount came from non-market sources, compared to 10% in urbanized areas. Farmland and forests had significant positive correlations with most non-market food items in terms of amount. Greater amounts of built-up area in the landscape were associated with a lesser amount of non-market food provision. Food sharing culture can contribute to enhancing resilience against socio-economic changes and natural disasters. This study provides baseline information for monitoring the hidden flow of food provision and its multiple functions.

Keywords: ecosystem services; satoyama; non-market food provision; sharing; land use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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