The RCEF Blog 博客

This New York Times article describes how some young Japanese are trying out farming since they can’t find jobs or are being laid off in the cities. The government is sponsoring farming training programs as part of its economic stimulus efforts. The mostly elderly farming population in Japan is said to “welcome” the young help, but is this arrangement sustainable? It’s hard for Japanese to buy land to start their own farms and farming skills take time to cultivate. According to the article, farming and life in the countryside is “romanticized” in Japan.

In China by contrast, many unemployed young people grew up in the countryside and are not eager to return to the reality they know firsthand. Tending the land is usually left to their parents and grandparents or, increasingly, to companies and large-scale mechanized farming. I wonder whether there are sustainable farms or cooperatives being started and run by independent young Chinese. The fourth grade boys at Guan Ai have recently become very interested in bee-keeping and making honey. The Guan Ai principal took them to visit a bee keeper in a nearby village and she was quite surprised to see all the youngsters so interested. Maybe this will be the beginning of an apprenticeship program…

A rural teacher recently told me that what rural youth need most are skills that will prepare them to make a good living in their hometowns. He says if they can make a stable, honest living, their views towards education will change for their children and the next generation. However, education methods have to change first. That’s our job–RCEF, Guan Ai School, and all the teachers out there who care about rural students’ futures.