Japan
The Japanese agricultural sector accounts for about 1.4% of the total country's GDP. Only 12% of Japan's land is suitable for cultivation. Due to this lack of arable land, a system of terraces is used to farm in small areas. This results in one of the world's highest levels of crop yields per unit area, with an overall agricultural self-sufficiency rate of about 50% on fewer than cultivated.
Alamata (woreda)
A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 18,422 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 0.84 hectares of land. Of the 15,533 hectares of private land surveyed, 98.16% was in cultivation, 0.03% pasture, 0.5% fallow, 0.27% woodland, and 1.04% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 91.67% was planted in cereals like teff and sorghum—although barley is the dominant crop in hgiher elevations—5.54% was in pulses, 31 hectares in oilseeds, and 33 planted in vegetables. The area planted in fruit trees was 43 hectares, while none were planted in gesho. 61.26% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 23.92% only grew crops and 14.82% only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 72.66% owning their land, and 27.25% renting; the number held in other forms of tenure is missing. "Parthenium hysterophorus" (or Congress weed) is reported to be an increasing threat to cereal production in Alamata, as well as in the adjacent woreda of Kobo in Amhara Region. Cash crops include field peas, faba beans, lentils, teff and peppers.