Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Chung Hwang-keun. Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

The government will establish what it calls a "K-rice belt" across seven countries in Africa, in order to advance current official development assistance (ODA) programs to countries that are struggling with a lack of agricultural infrastructure, compounded by geographical and other limitations unfavorable to growing crops, the food ministry said Wednesday.

Those countries are Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Ghana, Cameroon, Uganda and Kenya. The ministry will sign memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with those countries this year to help them identify ways to more effectively nurture the traditional industry, enabled in part by renting out used Korean agricultural equipment.

These are among the key policy directives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for 2023.

Global cooperation with key grain-producing countries will be strengthened through efforts to diversify trade partner countries in Central and South America.

A minister-chaired special task force will be launched to help Korea achieve $10 billion (12 trillion won) in agricultural exports this year, promoting IT-mediated smart farming technologies and capabilities of strong local players. The goal is to push up the figure further to $15 billion in 2027.

The government intends to raise the country's overall food self-sufficiency rate to 55.5 percent by 2027, up from 44.4 percent in 2021, propelled mostly by the increased output of locally grown grain. Rice is the only grain that has registered a self-sufficiency rate of a robust 84.6 percent. About 80 percent of other crops are imported.

Agriculture officials from Oman are on a guided tour of a smart farm operated by Nongshim in Anyang, Gyeoonggi Province, Nov. 24 2022. Korea Times file

Tangible results

"The year 2023 will be an opportunity for us to make great contributions to the growth of not only the agriculture and food industries but also the economy as a whole," Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Chung Hwang-keun said during a briefing of the ministry's directives for 2023 to President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Up to 30 percent of animal and produce farming will be automated with housing and financing arrangements by 2027, an effort to encourage a greater number of young farmers to find a future in the traditional, rapidly aging industry certain to perish without immediate policy assistance.

The number of overseas grain terminals operated by local firms will be increased to five from two, to secure stable grain distribution channels. The current two are in Ukraine and the Port of Longview in the U.S. state of Washington, operated respectively by POSCO International, a trading affiliate of POSCO, and Pan Ocean, a shipping firm. Up to 50 billion won in financing will be provided to new terminal operators this year.

A fund of 200 billion won will be established to facilitate foreign investment in local agriculture and food industries. Also to be set up is a secondary fund of 20 billion won to foster new local startups, as mediated by a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE). The agreement is between investors and companies, offering investors rights to future equity, and is a simpler mechanism for startups seeking initial funding.