Asian Alliance for Solidarity Economy

Asian Forum for Solidarity Economy
Tokyo, November 7 2009

Yvon Poirier, Martine Theveniaut

Workshop 7 Task Force – Atelier 7 – Results and Continuation.

Martine Theveniaut

Sociologist

Coordinator of Pactes Locaux since 1998

Pactes Locaux is a member of the European Steering Committee -RIPESS since 2007

Practitioner member of BASE Sud Audois (Bureau pour l’Action Solidaire dans l’Espace Sud Audois) South of France since 2000.

Yvon Poirier

Chair International Committee of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNET)

RIPESS North America

Involved in working with Martine since 2001 on local development

Co-Editor with Martine in publishing a monthly Newsletter since November 2003

International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development

1- Preparation and results: Martine Theveniaut

Pactes Locaux (Local agreements)

Pactes Locaux was created in 1998, supported by the Foundation for the Progress of Humankind. This French network of people and organisations involved in local development, has adopted a solidarity and cooperative approach in addressing socio-economic concerns through sustainable initiatives.

Pactes Locaux assumed the mandate for preparing a Workshop for the 4th Meeting of Globalisation of Solidarity, held from the 22nd-25th April 2009 in Luxemburg.

A majority French working group, thinking globally, and led by Pactes Locaux, prepared this meeting.

Common learning methodology: The experience takes shape.

In the current context of deep crisis of democracy and the growth model, Pactes Locaux, devised a mobile, learner-centered capitalization process, which involved a broad working platform at the European level.

December 2007 the group preparing for Workshop 7 “Democratic participation and territorial anchoring” agreed to hold 5 regional meetings.

A lot of material, many questions, valuable ideas and proposals were collected through this sharing process .The five meetings concluded in January 2009 and the results can be seen on the website. www.pactes-locaux.org

What lessons have we learnt that will help the future?

To put the economy back on its feet, we need

• to start from concrete reality, needs, aspirations and human inventiveness rather than at institutional level, with its power-based logic and fragmented, biased vision.
• to affirm that the new economy is one of shared responsibility: What is my responsibility within the economy, society, culture and nature? And how can I create links between these fields and my own life?

The lessons were enriched and enlarged at international level (February / April 2009).

Using presentations prepared by the speakers and other guest contributors from around the world who were members of workshop 7: Europe, Georgia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Madagascar, Quebec, Chile, Malaysia and the Philippines.

A learning journey in Aude (South of France)

Hosting an international delegation in the Aude before the Lux09 meeting, from April 16 – 21: Yvon Poirier and Jacques Fiset (Quebec), Denison Jayasooria (Malaysia) and Ben Quiñones (the Philippines), President of the CSRSME Asia (Coalition of Socially Responsible SMEs).

April 20, Terménès (France)

The conclusion of Workshop 7 is that the idea of territorial anchoring is of central importance.

The gravity of the current crisis provides an opportunity to revise fundamental aspects of the economy by connecting them to the other dimensions at the most relevant level.

This means at local territorial level. It implies that people are the central starting point for both analyses and action. At this level it is possible to adopt a holistic vision.

Territorial anchoring makes it possible to adopt a transversal, across-the-board approach, and achieve joined-up thinking (environment, social, culture, finance, governance etc.).

It also allows for the involvement of all social groups, especially the excluded.

This approach is a pillar of the solidarity economy and will be placed at the heart of the 5th meeting of RIPESS

A provisional steering committee to carry out this process (June 2009) based on exchange between practitioners or catalysts, is formed of:

• Ben Quiñones (Asian Alliance for Solidarity Economy).
• Denison Jayasooria (Asian Alliance for Solidarity Economy)
• Yvon Poirier (International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development)
• Martine Theveniaut (Pactes Locaux).

At the end of July 2009 the internet Forum opened an initiative of:

• the Asian Alliance for Solidarity Economy, the principal partner of the 5th meeting of the Globalization of Solidarity in Asia in 2013
• and Pactes Locaux who accepts the responsibility to implement the consensus of the Workshop

The forum is hosted on site by ALOE (the Alliance for another economy) to benefit from their experience in facilitating intercultural dialogue at a distance.

Thinking «locally» is becoming a major force in the organization of solidarity.

As this way of thinking is not usual, the approach is one of proof, we must: illustrate, discuss, compare how to make proposals on the basis of a diagnosis.

It is a must to convince that solidarity economy has the capacity to become a sustainable and responsible alternative in the context of globalization process

It is a must … to engage together in strategies for change.

This Forum was in three languages: English, Spanish and French.

We agreed that : « In this Forum, we assume that we are all, to varying degrees, practitioners of an economy with more solidarity, all rooted in a particular territorial context, but living and sharing many issues and values that we agree upon”.

Participation: about 150 people; 30 contributions – illustrative and theoretical.

The contributions served to produce a synthesis and are the basis of reflection for the future work program on “territorial anchoring” in 2013.

2 Territory in a global approach: Conclusions and proposals for the Future.

Yvon Poirier

Many contributions linked «territory» and «sustainable development»

A-Access to land and the production of food for local territories

Examples

- A land Trust in France «Terre de liens» for buying farmlands to settle young farmers An Association of 25 villages in Ivory Coast (West Africa) working in a long term perspective so strengthen the villages though farming

- Seikatsu Club Co-operative Union in Japan (300 000 members). Linking directly famers and consumers in cities

B- New forms of organisations and social innovation

In most contributions, people share initiatives they have built over the last 20-30 years

Examples

• Employers groups in Europe to create full time jobs in regions with seasonal or part-time jobs
• Networking in Agriculture Supported by the Community (ASC) with an international network called URGENCI
• Transition Towns to adapt to a world of sustainable communities (less use of energy)

GLOBAL PERPECTIVES

Two papers presented a global perspective

Pierre Calame (FPH) proposes the idea that the «territory will become the key actor of the 21st century» He suggests that territories are better place to face the «Four major challenges of our time: the integration of human activity in the biosphere, the search of a new equilibrium, social management, reducing energy consumption and the economy of knowledge»

Michael Lewis from the Canadian Center for Community Renewal and Pat Conaty from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in the UK say in their paper: “The Great Transition: Navigating social, economic, ecological in turbulent times.” The global challenges we face demand a radical transition from a globalised growth economy driven by escalating levels of debt to a federation of decentralised, social, and ecological economies. This paper is not merely a theoretical discussion, however. The thesis proposed for SEE (Social, Ecological, and Economic) Change builds upon historic and contemporary efforts by co-operative organisations to end usury, advance local land reform, reconstruct local food systems, and forge energy solutions that can decrease our dependence on fossil fuels. The dynamic and complementary innovations introduced in this paper explicate strategic pathways that need to be interconnected to shape the social and ecological system. »

The analysis and perspectives of these authors help us link the territorial approach with the global picture; especially since papers both place the territory in a central position.

MAIN CONCLUSIONS (from the synthesis paper)

1 – The global vision of solidarity economy contributes to the “great transition” with other currents of thought and action, including those of sustainable development. They have a common purpose is: “put the economy in the right direction and its rightful place: a means to serve the purposes of living together on the same premises in a liveable world for all – a world of finite resources, shared fairly, and deliberately democratic. “

2 – The territorial approach opens the possibility to balance the excesses of thematic and sectoral inputs towards a comprehensive approach.

“When the focus is placed on the sector (fair trade, social currency, finance, social, ethical consumerism, food sovereignty, etc…) Solidarity Economy, as an approach, treats the constraints of territory as one parameter among others.»

A NEW DEFINITION OF TERRITORY

As we concluded this first initial step (Luxemburg to Tokyo), we came to realise that we had a more precise knowledge of different aspects of the concept of territory.

In the conclusion of the Synthesis, we said:

· We must continue discussions on this territorial approach: what is a territory? What is territorial anchorage? what are the meanings of these words (vocabulary) in different languages?

· We received many comments after sending the synthesis.

· We are now ready to suggest a revised definition. These proposed changes come from friends in France. We acknowledge that we will need to continue to improve the definition to take into account other languages and cultural contexts.

What do we mean by «territory»?

This term has different meanings dependent on languages and cultures.

For us, a territory is an action system geographically based, where are organized social, cultural and economic relations:

· between inhabitants that share a common heritage, a past and a future in a same area, that they inherited and gas a destiny (whether native born, of adoption, migrants or visitors);

· between organizations with multiple features (enterprises, local authorities, state, networks, mutual aid, sectors of production, etc,)

· between these individuals and the organizations with a specific bio-geographical environment;

· between all these components and larger ones (macro) of smaller ones (micro).

These systems of territorial relations are necessarily open and connected to the outside. For in today’s world, interdependence has increased. Solving concrete problems as housing, food, development, infrastructure, services, employment, use of natural resources, the allocation of resources, etc., must take into account:

Constraints and opportunities of production and distribution of globalized goods and services;

Shortcomings of current international governance in the organization of a fair, just and appropriate territorial management of natural and cultural resources «the global common goods and shared values» and the flow of all kinds that are appropriate to the diversity of different situations (ecosystems, overcrowded metropolitan areas, vulnerable territories, etc.);

Territorial governance must also create new types and forms of organization (institutional, economic, social but also cross-cutting, financial, fiscal, technical, etc…)

NEXT STEPS

Continue our learning journey:

• listen to the practitioners
• links with researchers,
• knowledge exchange with others pursuing alternative approaches
• overcome the challenge of intercultural and language barriers

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE…. AND NECESSARY|

A final thought:

Gandhi once said « the world has enough for everyone’s needs but not their greed».

NOTE FROM DENISON JAYASOORIA (1/KL2011)

CHAIR OF THE KL2011 ASIAN FORUM FOR SOLIDARITY ECONOMY

Nov 9, 2009

Dear Friends,

It was a great pleasure to meet you during the 2^nd  Asian Forum (Tokyo2009) which was held from Nov 7 & 8, 2009. During this Forum we learned many lessons and shared many experiences. I take this opportunity to thank you all for agreeing to Malaysia being the host for  the 3^rd Asian Forum in Kuala Lumpur (KL2011).

Malaysia is an outstanding example where there has been tremendous socio-economic transformation which has taken place. Household poverty reduced from 50% of the population at the time of Independence in 1957 to less than 5% in 2009. While this was our success story, there is however rising income inequalities in Malaysia between the top 20% and the bottom 30%, within and among communities. We also note the emergence of the poor and low income families in the urban areas and complexity of the rural poor especially the interior, forest based communities.

Community based approaches which puts people before profits is the new models of socio economic transformation that Malaysia is adopting and therefore the KL2011 Asian Forum will enable Malaysia to show case its success models but at the same time learn from the experiences of other success stories from around the Asian region.

Personal Reflections & Lessons learnt from 2009 Forum

The experience at Tokyo was very enriching. I noted five key aspects which could serve as a helpful reminder of a memorable experience in promoting solidarity economy in Asia.

First, a number of the speakers provided a comprehensive introduction both the theoretical as well as the historical development of solidarity economy especially the context of its emergence. Among those who developed this theme were Dr Yoko Kitazawa and Prof Jun Nishikawa. However we did not devote enough attention to this very important aspect in due time especially at the next Asian Forum

Second, the practice dimensions through sharing of experiences and case studies. This is the most important contribution of the Tokyo gathering. A number were regional or national experiences as in the case of Martine Theveniaut of EU, Ben Quinones of the Philippines or Jang Won Bong of the Korean national model. In addition the many stories from Malaysia, India, Nepal and Japan added reflections of models and experiences. In the long run here too we must develop a framework for documentation, analysis and drawing lessons.

The third aspect relates to institutional development of the organizations involved. This was well illustrated by the presentation on social finance and social investment by Bernd Balkenhol of ILO and Ms Viviane Vandemeulebroucke (INAISE). In addition a new step forward was the social performance management tool which was highlighted by Ms Micol Pisrtell of MIX. In addition the ethical aspects’ discussed by Ms Edith Sizoo was also very critical. However there was not enough time for in-depth discussion and adoption of these by Asian Forum partners as the framework of operations.

The fourth aspect is the policy dimension including advocacy and lobbying the governments for a conducive policy environment which will facilitate the development of solidarity economy and especially social enterprises. The policy and legislative framework in Korea was provides institutional support of the State. Likewise the policy changes in Japan also merits further study and reflection. These can serve as helpful developments within the region for other Asian countries to emulate. More focus must be given towards policy advocacy and public policy issues in the future.

In this context too, Workshop E on International regulations for a solidarity levy warrants further reflections as the paper presenters shared experiences in attempting to influence the global financial order in a new and creative way. There is therefore an urgent need to balance micro development work at the grassroots with influencing and impacting global institutions, regional bodies and national governments to create new policies and legislation which will further enhance solidarity economy.

Fifthly, the Tokyo2009 Forum provided tremendous opportunities for sharing, fellowship and networking among a multi diverse groups of people among whom were academics, grassroots leaders, civil society activist, development workers, policy makers, organizational leads and international representatives. This took place both during formal sessions but more so during the informal sessions. The Forum provided an opportunity for all to network with one another thereby enabling us to experience the richness and diversity of Asia.

Pointers towards the KL2011 Forum

At the Asian Alliance Business Meeting held in the evening of Nov 8, 2009 at Akasaka Morroud Inn, chaired by Mr Ben Quinones (CSRSME Asia) and attended by about 26 people from Asia and our partners from other regions agreed to the following:-

That the Asian Alliance for Solidarity Economy be established as a network of likeminded organizations and individuals. Among the suggestions made was that the structure should be informal accepting direct members from the grassroots rather than establishing national institutions and to maintain a minimum structure. That the Asian Alliance be affiliated as an Asian regional branch of RIPESS.

It was also expressed that the work of the Asian Alliance is to undertake the promotion solidarity economy in the region including undertaking joint action in cooperation with Asian and regional partners.

It was strongly emphasized that the Asian Alliance focuses on the development of young leadership and incorporate young people in all the programmes and activities. In this context the Asian Alliance will network with Global Citizens for Sustainable Development and promote the Asian Youth Assembly (August 13 to 15, 2010 in Banglore, India) and the Asian Citizens Assembly also in Banglore (August 18 to 20, 2010). Asian Alliance will work closely with Mr Anugraha John in developing this dimension.

It was emphasized that the Alliance Asian adopts a new model of operations namely moving away from just hosting an event like a forum once is two years towards undertaking a regional project focus in terms of developing a learning journey process at the local community or a local district or geographical area or local territory (as used by Pactes-locaux in France).

In this context the Asian Alliance will work closely with Pactes-Locaux in learning from the methodology used as well as securing some funding from the European Union through Pactes-Locaux for the development of this learning journey at the local levels incorporating local governance and democracy, local citizens empowerment, local development which is comprehensive rather than piece meal. In this context the Asian Alliance will work closely with Ms Martine Theveniaut and Mr Yvon Poirier.

A process/methodology paper on undertaking a Learning Journey will be circulated. Its features will include local mapping and discovering the comprehensive range of activities such as micro credit, fair trade, community empowerment and its interplay at the community level including the impact of globalization and how local communities are responding to its challenges. Mr Ben Quinones will circulate a paper on this aspect. We will also circulate Pactes-Locaux materials on this aspect.

All these experiences can be documented over a period of time between 2010 leading on towards 2013 with the first set of presentations taking place at KL2011.

It was also affirmed that the Asian Alliance and partners adopt the Charter of Human Responsibility as the foundational value base principles undergirding solidarity economy. Therefore partners should enable its members to reflect on these and share their reflections at KL2011.

It was also emphasized that at KL2011 event invitations should be extended to grassroots actors such as famers, self help group women leaders in order for them to exhibit their products and share their experiences. Therefore along with the Forum there must be exhibition booths to display their works and opportunity for them to share their experiences.

It was suggested that we could speak to airlines officials such as CEO of Air Asia to seek special fares offers for participants especially from Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines in order for a large number of delegates from these countries close to Malaysia to participate.

 It was also suggested that the Asia Forum could serve as a hub for other networkers to all hold their programmes during the same time and in this way ensure that civil society organizations and leaders could incorporate the framework of solidarity economy. In this context cooperation with the Common wealth Association for People Centred Action (COMMACT), the World Fair Trade Organisations, Micro Credit Institutions, the Co-operatives and Credit Unions will enhance the Asian Forum. In this context the Asian Forum will work closely with Mr David Thompson (Jobs Australia) in securing the partnership of other networks

These are some of the points that I could remember. Please be free to give me your comments and corrections. In addition if I have forgotten something you said please let me know. If you have more ideas and suggestions please email them to me as soon as possible. Please also forgive me if there are any grammar and spelling mistakes as I did not have sufficient time to recheck them as I was trying to rush this first to you as soon as possible.

Let’s keep the lines of communication and lets be in touch

denison

http://solidarityeconomy.web.fc2.com/en/

November 7-10, 2009
United Nation University(UNU),
AOYAMA GAKUIN University, TOKYO JAPAN

The Solidarity Economy (SE) is an alternative framework for economic development that is based on the principles of solidarity, equity in all dimensions, participatory democracy, sustainability, and pluralism. The solidarity economy framework seeks transformation rather than band-aid solutions, yet rejects an one-size-fits-all blueprint.It isn’t an abstract theory nor pie-in-the-sky utopianism. Rather, it pulls together and builds upon the various elements of solidarity-based economy that already exist. Some are new innovations,some are old, and we already have a variety of experiences in Asia.And the journey of creation is ongoing.We look forward to seeing you there !!

NEWS & FEATURES

One-day symposium entitled “The End of Neoliberalism and Solidarity Economy”in Tokyo. This was a meeting to share perspectives on the current global economic crisis and to discuss the solidarity economy worldwide as a possible counter movement with its Japanese protagonists and practitioners.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

WHAT IS SOLIDARITY ECONOMY

‘Solidarity economy’ has gradually gained currency in today’s international scene. This term was first coined in the annual World Social Forums (2001 to 2008), an open forum for global justice and alternative globalisation movements, and is rapidly diffused to several regions of the world including Latin America and EU.

Economic globalisation multiplies the number of the poor, violates human rights, and destroys the environment, whilst allowing the well-off minority to accumulate wealth. The problem with the present global situation is twofold. Whilst a restructuring of economic and political systems is taking place through marketisation, economic liberalisation and the replacement of welfare state with the small government, social and ecological disintegration is proportionately increasing, including natural disasters and climate change, the decline of local economies, and the rise of income disparity that can be characterised as ‘the market failure’. This disequilibrium and precariousness in and of our growth economy-based societies impose even more burdens on the socially weak and prepare a potential, if not direct, explosion of wars and conflicts. Sadly, our world is far from a place where peace is established.

In facing this reality, ‘solidarity economy’, which is in itself proposed by civil societies across the world, serves as a concept that endorses a civil monitoring of the ‘failure’ of the market economy. One of the main objectives of solidarity economy is to supervise the transparency and accountability in the behaviours of the government as well as in the functioning of the market. The solidarity economy demands the government to carry out public policies and, so does it demand the private corporations to take social responsibility for their economic activities. Furthermore, it encourages various non-profit activities in civil society, including social and community enterprises, fair trade, the NPO activities, civic finance, local currencies and environmental protection. Thus, the solidarity economy serves as a platform for practising alternative socio-economic activities, chief among these are the revitalisation of local economies and the creation of employment through the democratisation of local communities; human capital training; gender equality; social inclusion as well as the strengthening of human rights of migrants and overseas residents, whose number is growing in the age of globalisation, and of the people who are often characterised as ‘the weak’.

SOLIDARITY ECONOMY IN JAPAN

Leaf-Business by aged women in Kamikatsu village, Tokushima pref.
Extracted from Tadaaki Ooe, “Chi-i-ki no Chi-ka-ra: Syoku, Nou, Machi-zukuri” Iwanami shinsho, 2008 (“Local Power: Food, Farming and Building a Commons”). Tadaaki Ooe is (journalist/president, COMMONS publishing company)

Translated by Yoshihiro Nakano

There are various cases of Solidarity Economy in Japan. Some of them are done in rural area, although people is suffering from depopulation and decline of agriculture. And we also have very unique peoples’ movement ; “consumer cooperatives”. They had been trying to support Japanese farmers, to solve environment issues, etc. Nowadays the movement became important sector to realise Solidarity Economy in Japan.   Introduced here is the leaf business of aged women in Kamikatsu Village.

The Kamikatsu town in Tokushima Prefecture lies in the Eastern edge of the Shikoku island region of West Japan–partly facing the Pacific Ocean and close to Osaka. It usually takes 1 hour 45 minutes to get there from Tokushima Station, the capital of the prefecture, by taking a route bus first and then changing to a town bus.

While walking in the town, I see houses lean on a high slope that almost reaches the sky. Two thousands and ninety two people are living in this town (as of March, 2006), and this is the smallest population in the whole Shikoku. Surprisingly 3833 people, nearly twice the population, visited this mountain-locked small town in the fiscal year 2005.

Their aim is to see leaves, the leaves that can be found everywhere in Japan, such as nanten (nandina), momiji (maple leaves), and kaki (persimmon). Being called tsumamono, these leaves are normally used for traditional Japanese cuisines, for example kaiseki, to decorate the appearance of dishes.

In Kamikatsu, the elderly women are growing leaves and flowers of every season in their gardens, fields and mountains, selling them by branding it irodori (i.e. colourful stuff), and earning well.

“We used to grow and sell oranges but they died because of a heavy winter breeze. We were badly off. But after switching business to the selling of leaves, we have been much better off. Things are significantly different. It’s not a hard work and the leaves are not heavy to carry. We are able to enjoy a healthy life. We work in the daytime and sleep well in the night. In my case, I always wake up at six in the morning and have a breakfast with seven family members including two grand-grand children. I cook a lot with a big family, so the food tastes good.”

Explaining like this, Tsuneko Suzuki, 84 years old, showed a perfect smile to me. Mrs. Suzuki is living in a four-generation family. They are running a shop that sells rice, fertility and alcohol as well as growing fruits such as sudachi, yuzu, yukou–the speciality of the town??and rice for self-supply. When she was young, she carried a rice bag, “komedawara”, which weighed 60kg.

Struggle From the Bottom
This leaf business project was proposed by Tomoji Yokoishi. Mr. Yokoishi was born in Tokushima City in 1958. After graduating an agriculture college in 1979, he was appointed to an agricultural cooperative (JA Kamikatsu) in Kamikatsu town. At that time, the mayor of the town and the leader of the JA were struggling with the glooming performance of orange farming and forestry, the principal industries of the town, and sought advices from Mr. Yokoishi in an attempt to introduce a fresh blow to a closed community of the mountain village.

Yokoishi was already known around the area for his ability of coordinating various town events. However, once he started, he faced a number of problems. He was virtually an outsider and it was not easy to come to terms with the geography of the town and to get his face recognised by the local people. While watching the workers at the town council and the JA drinking in the noon, he found that the town is in a state of decline.

In 25th Feburary 1981, a heavy winter breeze had attacked Kamikatsu and the oranges had died all. The people were urged to seek alternative ways for earning their living, transforming the direction of their agricultural business.

The turning point came in the autumn of 1986 when Yokoishi happened to come across “tsumamono” in a sushi restaurant in Osaka. He saw a young lady next to him impressed by a green maple leaf on her dishes and bring it home by wrapping it with a handkerchief. In reflecting on this scene, he reached a certain conviction that he could do business with leaves; while such leaves were everywhere and too common in Kamikatsu, they were rare and valuable to people in a different place.

When he first explained his idea to the farmers in the town, nobody believed that they could earn their living with leaves. However, after a continuous persuasion, four female farmers agreed to sell their kaboku (flower trees) that were cultivated for ikebana. The sales did not go well at the beginning.

The products managed to be bought with a quite cheap price, 5 or 10 yens per pack. The main reason for this failure lies in that these female farmers and Yokoishi did not know how to pack the products effectively and how these flower trees were used in traditional Japanese restaurants. Nonetheless they worked hard for marketing their products to every region of Japan, and their sales improved from 1.17million yens of the first year to 21.61 million yens in the third year, in 1988. The farmers in the town joined the project successively and the number of participants reached 44. Since then, the sales continued to grow except for the period when Yokoishi was absent from the project, and they reached 226.25 million yens in the fiscal year 2005.

The total number of the farmers who join the project is currently 195, of which 60 take main initiatives. Their average age is 68 year old. The number of products is 320 items. Put it bluntly, their surrounding gardens, fields and mountains are the “catalogues” of products. The maple and persimmon trees once annoyed the farmers when they produced a lot of fallen leaves that blocked the streets. However they suddenly changed to “treasure trees” which help them to earn their living. A merit of this project is that the elderly women in the town are already familiar with their natural environment; they know well the way a wind blows through the fields and mountains as well as the cycle of daylight; they know where to plant what. They can apply the wisdoms and skills that they had cultivated from their everyday lives to this new business.

The Irodori business adopts two types of shipping procedure: 1) regular shipping (to ship the collected leaves everyday) and 2) on-demand shipping. The latter contributes to high sales. The best-sold leaf through the year is middle-sized nandina (22% of the total sales); the next is green maple leaves (15%), and small-sized nandina, bamboo leaves, and red maple leaves follow.

The mass media often focus too much on the amount of sales in representing the success of the leaf business. They report, for example, that the elderly women earn 100 million yens per year or that mountain leaves turn into income. However, according to Yokoishi, the average amount of sales per person is 1.50 million yens and approximately 40 people earn more than 3 million yens. The fact that the elderly women earn such amount of income is, of course, not negligible. However, more significant is that they vibrantly feel a joy of living. This hints at a way to tackle the problem of an aging society. Inventing a Social Role for the Aged People
Takehiro Toyota, who has joined the Irodori project for three years, reckons as follows: “for human beings, the most important thing is to have a social role. Social role and evaluation: these two make people active and vital”.

Actually, Mr. Yokoishi has created social roles for the elderly people of the town by introducing an information system and by helping them to do the business on their own. The farmers receive the order of on-demand shipping at ten o?fclock in every morning via fax. They respond to this demand immediately and decide the amount of shipping of the day by adjusting the balance between the amounts of regular shipping and on-demand shipping. In addition, Yokoishi developed the PCs customised for the elder people and introduced them to 70 households. Today, the participants of the project can check the achievement of sales, unit price and the estimated amount of sales, and compare them with those of the previous years with ease. This contributes to enhancing the motivation of the participants and inspiring them toward a more creative way of doing business. These elderly people in Kamikatsu analyse and calculate information, cultivate and collect trees and leaves, pack the products, and carry them to the shipping station. They use their brains and bodies systematically.

Leaf Business as an Alternative Welfare Activity
The aging rate of Kamikatsu (the rate in which people who are older than 65 occupy in the total population of the town) is 47%, while the average of Tokushima prefecture is 24% (cf. the national average is 20%). Besides, people who are older than 75 occupy 26% of the total population of the town (cf. the national average is 8%). Despite the fact, the number of those who are officially recognised as “a person who needs care” (the level 5 of the national criteria), is extremely small: only 14 people of the total population (i.e. 0.72%). It can be said that the elderly people in Kamikatsu are fine and healthy in comparison to other advanced welfare local communities in Japan.

Another data also prove this. In Kamikatsu, medical cost per person (the expense by the national health insurance) is approximately 260,000 yens, that is, the 19th less costly among 50 municipalities in Tokushima prefecture (as of 2004). The amount is almost equivalent to that of Tokushima city whose aging rate is 18%. The singularity of Kamikatsu becomes clearer when we compare it with other towns that have a homologous population structure. For example, in Ichiu town (currently renamed as Tsurugi town), whose aging rate is 45%, the medical cost per person is approximately 460,000 yens; in Kodaira town (currently renamed as Mima city), 44%, 450,000 yens. A simple mathematics shows that Kamikatsu economises medical cost by about 400 million yens, compared with Ichiu.

Indeed, the leaf business of Kamikatsu provides an opportunity of rehabilitation and social inclusion for disabled elderly people. For instance, an elderly woman, who had her backbone injured in a bus accident 30 years ago, is currently a member of the Irodori project. She is picking nandina at a field close to her house and packing the products. Her doctor also recommends that a small exercise is good for her rehabilitation. She reflects on the project:

“This is a real welfare. People should know that I am practising a real welfare. The nursing care station is of course necessary for those who really need it, but, in reality, a majority of people go there even though they don’t really need it.”

Young People Come to Support the Town
Kamikatsu has also been receiving many younger people. There are two types: 1) the U-turn people, that is, those who once left but return to the town after several years and 2) the I-turn people, that is, those who move to the town from urban cities. According to the town council, the total numbers of U-turn and I-turn people during the period 1985-2005 are respectively 126 and 58, of which 85 and 49 are still staying. They occupy 6.4% of the total population of the town.

Some of these younger people moved to the town because they got interested in the volunteer activities coordinated by an environmental NPO. Others are also concerned with the environmental problems in general and sympathetic to the local initiatives on that issue. They drink with the local people and join local festivals and sports activities. When Mr. Yokoishi came to the town 30 years ago, Kamikatsu was an extremely closed community. However, after the success of the Irodori project, many people came to visit the town from the outside and the Kamikatsu people have gradually become open to them.

Yokoishi evaluates these younger people positively. He says:”The younger people come to Kamikatsu because they believe they have certain social roles in this town. They are enthusiastic to having relationships with the local community. The elderly women in the town also say that they’d love to work with the people from the outside. Besides, the young people from the outside have a highly sophisticated communication skill. That?fs the most important skill for developing corporations and organisations.”

Prof. Hisashi Nakamura, an advocator of localism as well as an economic anthropologist who often visits agricultural and fishery villages in Asia, argues that it is those who had once left but returned to their hometowns, who can take innovative initiatives for local development. For local community to gain autonomy and overcome the modern model of economic development, such “outsiders” must partake in local project as equal partners.

Today, a zero-waste project is ongoing in Kamikatsu. It is quite difficult to know whether the project succeeds. However, the fact that local NPOs and the residents of different generations are cooperating with the local authority can be highly appreciated. This strong sense of social bonding and mutual cooperation among local people is what the Irodori project has achieved during the past 20 years. The project is producing an environmentally and socially virtuous cycle of sustainable local development. That makes the elderly women active and vibrant.

by Miguel Yasuyuki Hirota

The symposium “End of Neoliberalism and Solidarity Economy” (organised by Pacific Asia Resource Center) and Ohdake Foundation) was held on Sun, 07^th June in the afternoon at Sôhyô Kaikan, Chiyoda, Tokyo. More than 150 people came to the venue with the maximum capacity of 100, reflecting the surging interest for solidarity economy in a country where this term remains generally unknown to the public. I hope the same interest will bring more people to the 2^nd Asian Forum on Solidarity Economy to be held from Sat, 7^th to Mon, 9^th November at United Nations University and Aoyama Gakuin University.

Four guests gave their presentations on this subject within the severe time limit of 20 minutes for each one. The first speaker, Andrew DeWit, Professor at the College of Economics, Rikkyô University, began with showing that nowadays even Republicans and CEOs criticize harshly economic policies during the Bush administration, pointing out that the U.S. economy in the last ten years was a FIRE (Finance, Insurance and Real Estate) economy as its growth was limited to these fields. He showed another comment that governments will enhance regulations for decades as a backlash to the excessive market economy and that the current crisis is not a temporary recession but is something equivalent to the Great Depression, showing it with tables. He appreciated Obama administration as it has been proactively working for renewable energy, hinting the possibility that the US politics may turn from Southern (religious and too ideology-oriented) to Californian (progressive, eco-friendly and logical) ones. On top of that, he mentioned the point that the current civilisation itself is unsustainable from the ecological viewpoint too due to its dependency on oil, proposing the shift to renewable energies.

Then followed Yoko Kitazawa, commentator on international affairs and one of founders of PARC. She began her speech with the bankruptcy and the subsequent nationalisation of GM, symbol of U.S. capitalism, judging that the capitalism is in crisis and adding that now is the time to promote solidarity economy as states cannot afford to make up for what remains unmet with the decaying capitalism. It was during the 1st World Social Forum, which took place at Porto Alegre, Brazil in January 2001, when she first came to know about the solidarity economy as she dropped by different cooperatives and visited Landless Workers’ Movement (MST in Portuguese) which was preparing for the takeover of latifundios. This Brazilian city is the cradle for the Participatory Budgeting on which Kitazawa also gave a brief introduction. Finally, she referred to the concept of social economy in France which includes mutual benefit societies, non-profits and foundations too.

Japanese initiatives of solidarity economy were presented too. Makoto Yuasa, counselor of PARC and secretary general of the non-profit “Independent Life Support Centre Moyai” (Moyai means mutual help in Japanese) working to help the homeless for more than a decade, related what he has done with the solidarity economy. He began his activities in 1995, setting up a mutual benefit system for day workers (you pay 300 yen (US$3) per month to get up to 10,000 yen (US$100, 1.000 yen x 10 days) in case you are too ill to work), cosigning rental agreements (you pay 8.000 yen (US$80) for 2 years), paying some salary for those homeless people who clear up the apartments of those who disappeared, hosting a salon on Saturdays at Moyai’s office at Iidabashi, Tokyo to give chances to see people for those who have lost the chance to do so due to their new life at an apartment and selling fair-trade coffee by asking a former café master to grind. He admitted that he had no previous knowledge at all on what the solidarity economy is before being asked to give a speech for this symposium, so it was a good chance for him to recognize that most of his activities belong to this category and he promised to reflect this concept into his day-to-day chores.

Last but not least, Eiko Mukaeda, representative of Women and Community Bank, told about their own initiative which is being run as a “NPO-Bank,” (NPO- non profit organization) a term commonly used in Japan. She reminded us of Tanomoshikô, an once commonplace practice in Japan in which dozens of people gathered, paying a certain amount of money (such as US$10) and who won the lottery could bring away the whole amount of money. She explained that their bank is a modernised Tanomoshikô for women and grass-root people. Then she revealed her experiences, such as the lack of commercial banks willing to lend money for female entrepreneurs, bank’s order to fill in her husband’s name (not her own one) as loan customer and her surprise that nobody in Japan knew how to set up a credit union because the Ministry of Finance had given the message not to allow anybody to do so. She also said that judicially speaking those NPO banks in Japan belong to the same category as consumer loan firms, forbidding equity participants to be paid of interest, implying the need for appropriate law system for this financial system.

It would be an understatement to say that this symposium with more than 150 participants was a good start, despite some organisational troubles such as lack of seats for so many people and shortage of time for such a variety of topics, as the solidarity economy remains ignored in Japan. It is highly desirable that the 2^nd Asian Forum on Solidarity Economy, to be held in Tokyo in November, should trigger more surveys on solidarity economy by way of universities and other research institutes in order to provide more information in Japanese language, given the almost non-existence of people who can give the overview on solidarity economy.