Geochang Women Farmers' Groups: "Implement Basic Rural Income and Establish a Dedicated Department for Women Farmers"

Press Conference Held to Announce Policy Demands Ahead of June 3 Local Elections

Women's agricultural organizations in Geochang, Gyeongnam Province, have called for the full implementation of basic income for rural communities and the establishment of a dedicated department for women farmers, ahead of the June 3 local elections.

On May 7, four women's agricultural organizations—the Geochang Women's Farmers Center, the Korea Women Farmers Association Geochang County Federation, the Geochang County Women Farmers Association of the National Women Farmers Association United, and the Korea Lifestyle Improvement Geochang County Federation—held a joint press conference at the Geochang County Office briefing room to announce their policy demands for women farmers.

In their press statement, the organizations emphasized, "Women farmers are equal leaders of agriculture and core members sustaining local communities. Despite being responsible not only for agricultural labor, but also for housework, caregiving, and maintaining village communities, women farmers remain on the periphery of policy considerations."

[Photo by Choi Soon-kyung] On the 7th, four women's agricultural organizations including the Geochang Women's Farmers Association and the Korean Association for Improvement of Life Geochang Branch held a joint press conference at the briefing room of Geochang County Office.

They went on to add, "This local election must serve as an opportunity to ensure that the rights of women farmers are translated into actual policies and budgets," urging candidates to adopt policy pledges in support of women farmers.

In particular, the groups called for the full implementation of basic income for rural areas in order to address the crisis of rural depopulation and to guarantee the public value of agriculture and rural communities.

They also presented the following as core demands: establishing a dedicated department and staff for women farmers; forming a policy consultative body for women farmers; revising the ordinance on fostering and supporting women farmers; improving the joint management system and introducing an individual registration system; and providing farmers’ allowances directly to individual farmers.

Additionally, they called for policies aimed at realizing a gender-equal rural society. The organizations demanded mandatory gender equality education for agricultural institutions and organizations, expansion of gender equality education at the village level, enhancement of counseling infrastructure for sexual and domestic violence, and the introduction of gender-sensitive budgeting.

The necessity of improving the welfare, health, and working conditions of women farmers was also emphasized. Their proposals included expanding communal village meals during the busy farming season, strengthening the effectiveness of specialized health checkups for women farmers, increasing safety training to prepare for heatwaves and cold snaps, installing cooling shelters and ecological restrooms, and enhancing rural health and medical infrastructure.

They also urged the establishment of support policies for young women farmers. The organizations argued that there must be stable settlement conditions in rural areas through measures such as housing support for young women farmers, guaranteeing priority in securing land, and promoting mentoring programs for farming skills.

Other policy suggestions to strengthen the production base for women farmers included expanding the supply of women-friendly agricultural machinery and convenience equipment, increasing the budget for agricultural work outsourcing services, providing incentives for shipping agricultural products under the names of women farmers, supporting small-scale agricultural processing, and expanding support for native and ecological agriculture.

The women's agricultural organizations stated, "Guaranteeing the rights of women farmers is a necessity, not a choice," adding, "We will support candidates who pledge to adopt the demands of women farmers and realize gender-equal agricultural policies."

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