'K-agriculture' plants seeds of hope around world
Dangjin Mayor Oh Seong-hwan drives a combine harvester at an eco-friendly paddy field in the city's Myeoncheon Township in South Chungcheong Province, Oct. 18. Courtesy of Dangjin City Government
“We have been looking for a friend like Korea,” Julius Maada Wonie Bio, president of the Republic of Sierra Leone, told me when I visited the African nation in October.
Those words conveyed much more than what he really meant. President Bio has placed the top priority on achieving food security as a national task of utmost importance, as his country is in the process of being rebuilt after having gone through civil war.
Amid this situation, the president chose Korea as a partner to work together in cooperation. He was eager to participate in the “K-Ricebelt” project and learn from Korea’s experience of enhancing rice productivity.
Korea’s international development cooperation in agriculture has never been under such a spotlight as today. This is more attributable to the national brand "Korea" rather than its larger assistance, compared to other countries.
Today’s severe food shortages in African countries were a challenge as severe as what Korea faced one or two generations ago. However, Korea overcame this challenge through the Green Revolution, and laid the foundation for growth to join the ranks of advanced countries.
The reason that African countries are paying attention to Korea does not lie in receipt of funding, but in making a better future by taking Korea’s experience of overcoming hardship following the 1950-53 Korean War and achieving economic development.
Korea’s experience of developing a new rice variety, “Tong-il rice,” and achieving self-sufficiency in rice production is becoming a seed of hope for Africa through the K-Ricebelt project.
Thanks to advanced countries’ donation of heifers in the past, Korea was able to develop world-class dairy technologies. Such experience and know-how are now being transferred to dairy farmers in Nepal, with a donation of 101 cattle to the nation in December last year.
Korea’s rapid economic growth in aa shor timeframeed to development of diverse technologies and policies spanning from low to high levels. Thus, Korea has diverse levels of agricultural knowledge to share with other countries. This is the unique soft power possessed solely by the nation, and it is the reason that many countries choose to collaborate with us in the field of agriculture.
On the occasion of the 2023 Development Cooperation Week in November, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs held the 2023 Global Agricultural ODA Forum in Ghana, a member of the K-Ricebelt project, to share the outcomes of Korea’s agricultural official development assistance (ODA) projects and future plans with the recipient countries and experts from international organizations.
An official from the World Food Programme (WFP) emphasized the significance of the K-Ricebelt project for sharing the secrets and experience of Korea’s agricultural development, and said that the world today, faced with crises caused by climate change and war, needs such leadership.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned, in the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) Report released in July, that the number of people facing hunger around the world is increasing.
President Yoon Suk Yeol emphasized that “countries with financial and technological capacities must assume responsible roles” during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in September. Accordingly, the ministry has increased next year’s ODA budget by 65 percent. Going forward, we will continue making the utmost effort to share our experience in agriculture with other countries and planting seeds of hope around the world.
Chung Hwang-keun is the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.