Amid vigorous discussions on reforming the Japanese agricultural co-operative group, human development has become more important than ever to reaffirm the significance of primary JAs. It is the JA staff members who bear the task of creating the future of the JA group and co-operative activities.
Based on the resolution adopted at JA’s 26th national meeting in 2012, the JA group launched a national campaign last year to step up training of its manpower. The campaign has been extended to the prefectural level, and now it is time for primary JAs to take specific actions. Each JA must come up with clear prospects for the future, show what kind of personnel is necessary, establish its own personnel management and training systems based on its manpower development strategy and, at the same time, work on vitalizing its work environment. Primary JAs’ operating profits have been on a declining trend since the mid-1990s, and many of them have been forced to cut their management costs. In order to operate with limited manpower, it appears reasonable for them – from the viewpoint of efficiency – to adopt top-down decision making in setting their business goals and how their employees should work. However, we cannot deny that this has discouraged workers from acting on their own judgment. The campaign calls for the need to implement management focused on human development, and this does not only mean improving management skills of managers and supervisors. Leaders of primary JAs have the responsibility to realize the goals of the campaign.
The fundamental idea of human development has always been the same. Primary JAs should educate employees so that they can work together to realize the organization’s goals based on the co-operatives’ principles and each of their management philosophy. One concern lies in the fact that the relationship between primary JAs and younger generation farmer members has weakened after older members retired. It is necessary to promote co-operative activities among young members through JA’s everyday services and also grasp their needs in order to strengthen ties between JAs and their members.
The Agricultural Co-operative Law states that educational activities are part of the tasks of the central and prefectural unions of agricultural co-operatives. As Masahiko Shiraishi, a professor emeritus of Tokyo University of Agriculture, said in an interview with The Japan Agricultural News, co-operatives’ staff members should have the skills and expertise to be able to operate globally. The central and prefectural unions must strengthen their inspection and training functions in the future to support primary JAs.
Debate is heating up on the JA group’s self-reform, which began as part of the government’s deregulation efforts. The government has offered various proposals, and the JA group can take them as an opportunity to review and reacknowledge its role and tasks. Primary JAs are said to be an organization which ties people together. Compared with private companies, JAs have strong foothold in local communities and their services are deeply related to human factors. In order to remain as a necessary organization for farmers and communities, it is important to further promote the human development campaign to boost strategy building and problem solving skills of JAs’ staffs.
(Sept. 9, 2014)