[Special Contribution] In the Era of Rural Disappearance, Let Us Redesign the Future of Agriculture

[Special Contribution] Former diplomat specializing in Latin America, Honorary Professor at the National University of Trujillo, Peru / Dr. Park Sun-tae

“Rural communities are facing a crisis of disappearance.” This warning has been repeated for decades. The farming population continues to decline, and aging has already reached a serious level. According to the 2024 Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Survey, the share of farm operators aged 65 or older reaches 69.7%, while those under 40 account for only 0.5%. The government has meanwhile promoted the fostering of young farmers and encouraged returning to farming and rural areas. Large budgets have also been invested in support for farm households, the dissemination of agricultural technologies, and improvements to agricultural infrastructure and settlement conditions. It is not that policies were not implemented. Even so, population decline and aging in rural areas continue. Given the reality that the demographic structure of the entire country is changing rapidly, it is time to consider whether it is sufficient to continue viewing rural disappearance solely through the yardstick of a ‘decline in the number of residents.’
 

Are the rural population and agricultural production capacity the same thing?

When visiting rural areas in Europe, one often encounters landscapes where farmhouses are scattered here and there among broad fields. There are not many people, but the farmland is well cultivated and the surrounding environment is pleasant. Few people would look at such a scene and think that the countryside has disappeared. This is why it is difficult to judge the sustainability of rural areas and agricultural production capacity solely by population size. If farmland is consolidated and scaled up while mechanization, automation, and smart agriculture are expanded, wider areas of farmland can be cultivated and productivity can be increased with fewer workers. Autonomous agricultural machinery and data-based smart farming technologies are also developing rapidly. In an era of population decline, we must examine not only how many people live in rural areas but also who will be responsible for agriculture and what level of production capacity will be maintained.

As the retirement of elderly farmers accelerates, who will carry on farming is a very realistic issue. While supporting young Koreans so that they can find new possibilities in smart agriculture, greenhouse horticulture, and high-value-added agriculture, it is also worth opening pathways for young foreigners with agricultural skills to settle long-term with their families and continue farming in regions and sectors where securing domestic labor is difficult. We need to go one step beyond supplementing seasonal labor shortages and broaden our perspective to how we will secure farming personnel who can continuously manage agriculture and take root in local communities.
 

From farmland area to food production capacity

Farmland policy should also place greater importance on ‘securing actual production capacity’ together with ‘preserving physical area.’ No matter how much farmland remains, if there is no one to cultivate it or if crops needed nationally are not produced, there are limits to its contribution to food security. From farmers’ perspectives as well, it is natural to choose higher-profit crops when cultivating the same land. To maintain the production of major crops needed nationally at a certain level, farmland preservation must be backed by economic conditions that enable farmers to continue production.

There is also a need to slightly change the order in which we approach food security. First, we should examine how stably the major foods needed by the public can be secured by item, then determine the production capacity that needs to be maintained domestically, and design farmland, labor, technology, and policy support accordingly. With this approach, we can more specifically identify high-quality farmland and key production areas necessary for food security, and policy tools such as water resources and infrastructure, smart mechanization, public-interest direct payments, and contract cultivation can be concentrated more effectively.

It is hoped that the ongoing complete survey of farmland will also be used as a foundation for drawing this future agricultural map. It should not stop at simply identifying ownership and use conditions, or illegal acts; it should also determine which areas should be maintained as long-term major production bases, and where farmland consolidation and scaling-up are possible. In particular, while the prevention of farmland speculation and the thorough preservation of high-quality farmland should remain fundamental, in areas where agricultural functions have been greatly weakened by urbanization and fragmentation, a balanced approach is needed to objectively examine agricultural value and future production potential and jointly seek realistic spatial reorganization and utilization measures.

We must also face the reality that it is difficult to secure all food through domestic production alone. While faithfully maintaining the domestic production base that must be protected, structurally insufficient parts should be supplemented through stable overseas supply chains. Beyond the simple overseas cultivation of the past, the concept can be expanded into an ‘overseas food platform’ that connects long-term purchase contracts, silos, ports and transport networks, and local distribution networks. In addition, the national food supply chain encompassing grain and feed, livestock and fisheries should be viewed comprehensively in connection with trade, investment, diplomacy, and official development assistance (ODA), and supply-chain specialists who can operate it should also be systematically cultivated.

In the era of rural disappearance, what we must protect is probably not only the numbers of population and farmland area. The more essential task may be to cultivate pleasant rural areas where people want to live while also building national capacity to stably produce and secure the food needed by the public. I hope this farmland survey will go beyond a simple grasp of current conditions and become the starting point for redrawing the future agricultural map: in which regions and what kinds of agriculture the Republic of Korea will maintain over the next 20 to 30 years, and how it will produce and secure the food it needs.