Presently Korea does not focus on food self-sufficiency but takes care of the demand with imports. Farmers would like to see the focus on food self-sufficiency and the editorial sees no problem in having both as a focus and continuing to meet the demand with imports.
The columnist mentions her maternal uncles and aunts who are farmers. She buys and eats agricultural products such as rice, grains, garlic, and red pepper powder directly from her family in the countryside. It is heartbreaking to see elderly people in their 80s plowing paddy fields and farming in the scorching sun. Her aunt strives to do Eco-friendly farming using almost no pesticides or chemical fertilizers following the teachings of the church.
Even if you work diligently, weeds and insects are rampant in their fields, which have not been sprayed with pesticides, so there is not much produce that can be sold. Most of her cousins live in cities or rural areas like the writer, but they do other work, sometimes helping their parents, with the farming. Life is difficult on the farms and the children opt for an easier and better-paying lifestyle in the cities.
According to data released by the National Statistical Office, the number of farm households in Korea is about 4.3% of the total population, and the percentage is rapidly decreasing every year. The aging of the rural areas has also become more severe, with 17.1% of the population aged 65 and over in Korea accounting for 46.8% of the elderly population in farm households. The average age of farm owners is 67.2 as of 2021, with 77.3% of owners over 60 years old. As the number of farmers in Korean society is gradually decreasing and aging, concerns about the disappearance of rural areas are growing.
As the number of people engaged in agriculture decreases, the food situation in our country continues to deteriorate. Korea's food self-sufficiency rate, which averaged 73.3% in the 1970s and 1980s, has dropped to 45.8% as of 2020. The self-sufficiency rate of wheat, which Koreans enjoy eating, is only 0.8%. If we are highly dependent on imports for food, we will inevitably take a hit when there is a problem in the international food supply chain. which is being experienced now.
Recently around the world, warnings about a large-scale food crisis are increasing due to climate crises, war, drought, and heat waves. Russia, which invaded Ukraine this year, is the world's number one wheat exporter. It weaponized food, banned the export of major grains, and blocked the ports of Ukraine, the world's granary, blocking grain exports and destroying farmland with war. India, the world's second-largest wheat producer, has restricted wheat exports as production has declined due to heatwaves reaching 50 degrees Celsius. In addition, many countries are restricting grain exports for domestic supply. They are promoting food security for reasons such as reduced grain yields due to abnormal weather and instability in the grain supply chain due to war, which will further worsen the food shortage.
Farmers in Korea do hard work and suffer great damage to their crops due to climate crises such as drought and heatwave. Recently, as the government is pushing to join the Comprehensive and Gradual Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which requires opening up tariffs on agricultural, fishery, and livestock products, there is concern that the number of imported agricultural and fishery products will increase and the Korean agricultural and fishery industry will be devastated.
In an era when food became a weapon, 4.3% of the peasants, a small minority, worked hard to plow the land and grow crops like the prophets of old, and thanks to their struggle to protect agriculture sacrificed by the government policy that prioritizes export industries, we show our thanks on the 27th Farmers' Day. Let's remember with gratitude that they are protecting our food. Our interest and solidarity are desperately needed so that the struggle of the peasants does not become their own private battle.
