Earthquakes and rural district's role

1. What's JA Hyogo Rokko?

JA Hyogo Rokko is an agricultural cooperative which is made up of 9 local agricultural associations in Hyogo prefecture. Kobe city produces the highest quality of products agricultural outputs in Hyogo prefecture including rice, vegetables, milk, "Kobe beef", flowers and fruits. That means that Kobe is an agricultural city as well as an industrial and commercial one.

2. The day the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred

Firstly, it seemed that the damage from the earthquake was not so serious, but actually it was. Those who lost their homes rushed into safe shelters and schools looking for water, food and information. That was the beginning of a series of serious rescue operations. The number of refugees summed up to 300,000 and they needed food and water for the day to survive. Our problem was how to distribute food (rice) to the refugees. We cooked a lot of "Onigiri", rice balls, a typical and easily cooked- rice dish, by using 12 large-size rice-cookers. The total number of Onigiri produced went up to 130,000. Shipment to distribute the cooked Onigiri was performed by volunteer farmers. As other rescue activities, we distributed warm dishes to refugees at elementary schools with a huge pot whose diameter was 1.8 m. We needed such a big pot to cook enough food to distribute to all the refugees at one shelter. One shelter usually accommodated 3,000 to 5,000 refugees.

3. Preparation for disasters

Now we hold on annual event "distribution of boiled rice" to prepare for disasters and to keep close connections between cities and agricultural villages. We also pay attention to the amount of rice in storage for emergencies. However we also need to pay attention to overstocks of rice because this has a bad influence on other countries and their people.

4. The relationship between farmers and city residents

I think food and dishes taste better if we think of the producers when we eat them. And if we, farmers, can feel the people's gratitude, we would like to help them when they are in need. I think such a relationship is important.

-Student's impressions-

Although I can see disasters happening in other areas, I have never taken any action. It is easy to say "I am interested in disasters and volunteer work", but it is difficult and courageous to perform activities in a practical manner.