Launch of 'K-Rice Belt' Promotion Team... Managing Korean Rice Seed Production to Distribution to Farmers

Joint Formation and Operation of Related Agencies Including the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Rural Development Administration

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 1st that it will establish and operate the 'K-Rice Belt Task Force (TF)' from the 1st to systematically promote the 'Africa K-Rice Belt' project, Korea's representative agricultural Official Development Assistance (ODA) initiative.

The task force will be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry's International Cooperation Officer and will include officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Rural Development Administration, National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, National Seed Management Office, and Korea Rural Community Corporation. It will undertake roles such as overall planning, production infrastructure development, seed production, farmer distribution and marketing, and cooperation with international organizations and external partners.

The scale of agricultural ODA has been steadily expanding. In particular, the K-Rice Belt has been gaining attention in the international community. In May, Korea expressed its commitment to promote the K-Rice Belt to address the global food crisis at the G7 Summit. In July, ministerial representatives from eight African countries were invited to Seoul to hold the K-Rice Belt Agricultural Ministers' Meeting and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for project cooperation. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have also expressed strong support and willingness to cooperate with the project.

Jung Hwang-geun, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "Korea's experience of achieving rice self-sufficiency in a short period is a rare case globally, and there is great enthusiasm in Africa to learn Korean agricultural technology. Through the launch of the task force, we will thoroughly manage the project to understand local conditions and demands and to advance the entire rice production and distribution value chain in Africa without any gaps."

On the 10th of last month, Jeong Hwang-geun, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, spoke at the K-Rice Belt Ministerial Meeting.

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