Disaster Recovery and Agricultural Revitalization―From Case Examples of Onokoba Area, Fukae Town in Minamishimabara City―

In 1990, the Unzen Fugen Mountains erupted causing a volcanic disaster. Vast amounts of agricultural land were lost due to pyroclastic and debri flow. However, after the application of agricultural revitalization, the agricultural reconstruction following the Great East Japan earthquake is gathering attention as one potential model. The research undertaken looked at the enormous amount of damage from the pyroclastic flow of the Unzen Fugen Mountains, in particular the Onokoba area in Fukae town, Minamishimabara City. It examined the necessary conditions for disaster recovery and agricultural revitalization. In concrete terms, a questionaire was carried out with a statistical analysis of related material concerning agricultural revitalization businesses at the time of the disaster and farming conditions and farm houses at the time of the disaster. Generally, in terms of changes in agricultural structure there has been a reduction in farms and a widening of the wealth between agricultural businesses. However, this is a striking trend in the process of disaster recovery and agricultural revitalization. From this perspective, it is necessary to gather information and compare the cases of disaster recovery and agricultural revitalization. The result is that it has become clear that one of the necessary conditions for recovery and agricultural revitalization following a large scale disaster is to provide equipment to the external environment so that the farms that have been affected by the disaster are able to be managed and to allow for the advancement of farming business needs for farmers who have left because of the disaster