NongHyup Launches Farming Support Kickoff Ceremony to Help Rural Areas Amid 'COVID-19 Labor Shortage'...

Seonghee Lee, President of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (third from the left), poses for a commemorative photo with attendees including Youngrok Kim, Governor of Jeollanam-do (fourth from the left), Sangik Lee, Mayor of Hampyeong-gun (fifth from the left), Seungyoung Jang, Head of Haenam Agricultural Cooperative (far left), and Pyeonghun Go, Head of Mokpo Horticultural Agricultural Cooperative (far right), after a ceremony for the delivery of agricultural machinery at the "National Simultaneous Launch Ceremony for Comprehensive Agricultural Cooperative Farming Support" held on the 12th in Nasan-myeon, Hampyeong-gun, Jeollanam-do. (Photo by National Agricultural Cooperative Federation)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation held the 'National Simultaneous Launch Ceremony for Agricultural Support by the Federation' on the 12th in Hampyeong, Jeollanam-do to support rural areas facing labor shortages during the busy farming season. The event was attended by Lee Seong-hee, Chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, about 40 executives and employees, Lee Gae-ho, Chairman of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, and Fisheries Committee, Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeollanam-do, and Lee Sang-ik, Mayor of Hampyeong County.

At the event, Chairman Lee said, "To resolve the labor shortage exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19, we supported 1.54 million workers through the Rural Workforce Brokerage Center last year alone, and this year we plan to continuously support the demand for rural labor."

The Federation plans to diversify labor support in cooperation with related organizations such as the Ministry of Justice. This year, about 250,000 social service participants, more than three times the previous year, are expected to assist rural areas. Efforts to help rural labor through industry-academia-research cooperation will also be strengthened.

To replace the insufficient farming workforce due to population decline and aging, a ceremony for delivering agricultural machinery to agricultural cooperatives was also held. Following last year, agricultural machinery worth 30 billion KRW will be supplied to rural areas again this year.

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