Dr. Akimi Fujimoto

Dr. Akimi Fujimoto Professor, Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies
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Dr. Akimi Fujimoto Professor, Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies

While his two brothers followed their father into local government service, Akimi Fujimoto took a different path."My father had two working lives, as a government official and helping my mother farm our land in Niigata.There was no way I ever wanted a desk job."

News photoAkimi Fujimoto, a professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture, is an international leader on developing ecologically sound and economically viable farming methods, raising safe food through sustainable development.

At high school, Akimi scouted academic institutions for a degree course in agriculture.He chose the third-oldest in Japan, founded in 1891 by Takeaki Enomoto to promote "practical science."
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Akimi began his career in Malaysia, researching rice farming.
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A Canadian researcher then published a book that disagreed with everything Akimi had written."Oh well," he says, shrugging philosophically.By this time he had tenure at his old university. (Returning to Japan in 1980, Akimi had taught English in Niigata while waiting for his Ph.D. to be confirmed.Soon after he was hired by TUA.)

After a decade developing comparative studies in land tenure, Akimi's interest moved on from rice to growing vegetables and concentrating on sustainable development.This evolved into what he calls "double eco" -- "eco-eco" -- for ecologically sound, economically viable farming systems.
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In 1999, Akimi helped pioneer a five-year Academic Frontier Research Project.Last year this was extended for another five-year period.
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In his positions as director of international programs and professor in the Department of International Bio-Business Studies, Akimi had the idea of organizing an International Students' Summit at TUA.The first ISS, with delegates from nine countries, met in late 2001.The result was the "Tokyo Declaration" concerning the urgency of food safety, published across two pages in the Mainichi Shimbun.

Twenty nations were represented in 2004.Now Akimi is working toward ISS 2005 on the impact of international trade on the agricultural environment and food issues.

Mahesh Upadhyaya, Associate Dean, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences Graduate Studies, University of British Columbia, Canada; Dr. Richard Williams, Professor andCoordinator, Faculty International Programs, Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Australia; Dr. Akimi Fujimoto, Director of International Programs, and Dr. Michito Mihara, Deputy Director of International Programs, both from the Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan; Dr. Luis Rey I. Velasco, Chancellor, Dr. Oscar B. Zamora, Dean of Graduate School, and Dr. Cristeta N. Cuaresma, Secretary of Graduate School, all from the University of the Philippines Los Baños; Ms. Marianne G. Quebral, Executive Director of Venture for Fund Raising; Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan, Director; and Dr. Editha C. Cedicol, Manager of Graduate Scholarship Department, both of the SEAMEO Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

Dr. Akimi Fujimoto Professor, Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan.

Akimi Fujimoto, a professor at Japan's Tokyo University of Agriculture, says rapid industrialization is partly to blame.

"The most important point is increasing competition for limited resources such as land, water, labor and capital between rice sector and non-agricultural sector because of increased industrialization," he said.

rice fieldRice field

Professor Fujimoto also notes that farmers are leaving their fields to take better paying jobs elsewhere.