Permalink :  http://hdl.handle.net/2115/80897

In recent years, agriculture-welfare collaboration projects have been promoted from the standpoint of two policy trends: eliminating labor shortages in the agricultural field and providing employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in the welfare field. Among such projects, a unique initiative has been implemented by the Agriculture-Welfare Collaboration Association Shizensaibai Party (Shizensaibai Party). Unlike conventional farming methods, one of the characteristics of Shizensaibai Party is natural cultivation without the use of any pesticides or fertilizers. What are the efforts made by agriculture-welfare collaboration projects in order to expand in Hokkaido that has seemingly unfavorable conditions for natural cultivation, such as extensive type agriculture and the emphasis on efficiency? There is no prior research discussing the practices of natural cultivation in agriculture-welfare collaboration. The purpose of this study is to identify the key principles of the efforts to expand agriculturewelfare collaboration and natural cultivation in Hokkaido. In Hokkaido there is the Hokkaido Kimura Akinori School of Natural Cultivation Agriculture (School of Agriculture) that was influenced by Kimura Akinoriʼs worldview. In this study I have described the Hokkaido team of Shizensaibai Party based at the School of Agriculture, and their efforts in expanding agriculture-welfare collaboration. I have focused on the example of the Employment Support Center Te To Teʼs implementation of the practices of care in natural cultivation and have examined the possibilities of development and the characteristics of agriculture-welfare collaboration and employment support for persons with disabilities in Hokkaido. The results of the study have revealed unique aspects of agriculture-welfare collaboration in Hokkaido such as the establishment of the School of Agriculture, the organization of different events and the active involvement of the alumni, as well as the utilization of large areas of arable land usually used in monoculture farming to produce a wide variety of crops instead. Furthermore, the example of care for persons with disabilities and crop cultivation demonstrated the affinity between natural cultivation and welfare. This study offers valuable insight into the future possibilities of agriculture-welfare collaboration in Hokkaido and the possibilities of employment support for persons with disabilities provided by natural cultivation.

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