Jeonnam Province Leads Nationwide Rural Convergence Industry

336 Certified Agricultural and Food Management Entities Selected by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs 'Nationwide Highest'

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province is leading the rural convergence industry nationwide.

On the 18th, the province announced that it currently has 336 certified rural convergence industry businesses selected by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the highest number in the country.

Currently, there are a total of 2,020 certified rural convergence industry businesses nationwide, with Jeonnam having the most, followed by Jeonbuk, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeonggi.

The ‘Certified Rural Convergence Industry Business’ is a business that creates new added value by linking locally produced agricultural products with secondary manufacturing and processing, tertiary distribution and sales, experiential tourism, etc., and has achieved average sales of over 40 million KRW in the past two years.

The Rural Convergence Industry Support Center forms a panel of private experts to evaluate the basic capabilities of the businesses, industrial foundation, differentiation from existing products, and linkage and utilization of local communities and resources, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs making the final selection.

Once selected as a certified business, they receive one-on-one management consulting, promotional marketing, online and offline sales support such as Namdo Market and home shopping, new product development, and financial support including loans to strengthen convergence.

The province is discovering and supporting various policies to revitalize the operation of certified rural convergence industry businesses and promote the sales of their products.

For the first time nationwide, the province launched the ‘Experiential Activity Health Package’ project for welfare facilities such as the elderly, disabled, and children whose experiential activities were suspended due to COVID-19. Certified businesses that supplied products recorded total sales of 103 million KRW in the first half of this year alone.

In addition, in May, the province’s agricultural, livestock, and fishery online shopping mall Namdo Market became the first in the nation to list non-food rural experience tourism products, generating sales of 10 million KRW.

Jeonnam Province plans to discover and expand the number of certified rural convergence industry businesses to 400 by the end of this year, continuously promoting farm income generation and vitality enhancement.

So Young-ho, Director of the Agriculture, Livestock and Food Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, “We will expand the market for excellent products produced through the sixth industrialization of rural resources to increase farm income,” and added, “We will actively discover certified convergence farms in Jeonnam and nurture them to become a nationwide success model.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.