South Korea’s organic consumption increasing 40 per cent annually

The number of consumers of organic products in South Korea has grown from just over 31,000 in the year 2000 to 300,000 in 2011.

South Korea, the 11th largest economy in the world, has an agricultural history that is more than 5,000 years old. It is a small country with a total area of about 98,480sq km, a population of about 50 million, some 6.8 per cent of the workforce engaged in agricultural activities, with the predominant crop being rice followed by fruit and vegetables, other crops, and processed foods.

Currently there are more than 8,000 certified organic farms (0.6%). And although organic agriculture is still at the budding stage, there has been a rapid growth of 40 per cent annually for certified goods since 2000.

The majority of organic produce is sold on the domestic market, but the government is currently working to expand the sector’s export market opportunities.

The organic farming movement began in South Korea in the late 1970s to increase food production at a time when conventional chemicalbased agriculture was the norm.

The movement was driven by several organic farmers’ organisations dedicated to educating farmers as to the benefits of organic farming techniques.

By the late 1980s, a number of consumers’ co-operatives (CCs) were established in Korea to facilitate direct trade of organic produce from farms to the urban regions.

The CCs self-regulate themselves in regards to production and quality standards and actively promote organic produce as being not only a safe and healthy food source, but also better for the environment and regional economies.

Such has been the success of the CC initiative that by the end of 2011 some 605,000 households across Korea were CC members contributing $USD396 million in organic produce to the economy each year. (Organic farm product: $USD350 million; organic processed food: $USD315 million; pesticide-free and low pesticide farm product: $USD3 billion; pesticide-free and low pesticide processed food: $USD285 million; total (ecofriendly food): $USD 4 billion).

Hansalim

The CCs were born from the initiative titled “Hansalim’s Direct Trade Movement between Rural and Urban Areas with Organic Food in Korea.

The term “Hansalim” is a compound of two words - “Han” and “Salim” which means “Save all living things”. For the Korean farmer it meant realising the value of sustainable organic agriculture.

For the traders and markets it promoted dealing directly with organic farmers, and for the consumers it promoted organic produce as a safe and healthy food source which also protected the environment from conventional agricultural chemical inputs.

Humble beginnings

Hansalim actually had humble beginnings in 1986 as a small grocery outlet at Jegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea. The main objectives of the Hansalim Movement are:

1) The direct trade of organic agricultural products between urban and rural shared living communities;

2) A food and agriculture conservation movement based on the main idea that “producers shoulder the responsibility for consumers’ lives and consumers shoulder the responsibility for producers’ lives”; and

3) Focusing on the total system including not only distribution and consumption but also production and introducing democratic governance organised by the participation of producers and consumers.

The Hansalim model pays producers 76 per cent of income with 24 per cent necessary for operating costs.

Guidelines

The guidelines are clear - no pesticides or chemical fertilisers; fresh vegetables and fruits in season; locally-grown produce; no GMO agricultural products and seafood; no food additives such as artificial preservatives, colours, flavours and sweeteners; and no antibiotics or growth hormones for livestock feed.

Since the early 1990s, with the push towards developing organic farming practices in the republic, the government has made dramatic changes in its agricultural policies in introducing and evolving the quality certification of organic agricultural products and crops raised without chemical inputs.

By 2005 this policy was extended to organic certification for processed foods.

Organic certification

In 1998 the Korean government developed an organic certification and labelling program that increased consumer awareness about the heavy use of agricultural chemicals in Korea.

The majority of Koreans are now very aware of organic produce due to the easily-recognisable and highlypublicised ‘organica’ emblems which are pride of place on the labels of organic produce. The number of consumers of organic products has grown from just over 31,000 in 2000 to 300,000 in 2011.

Organic products are sold in five retail sectors: high-end department stores, hypermarkets, chain supermarkets, family stores and farmers’ markets. The majority of organic sales are through these outlets (70 per cent), while 30 per cent are processed through telephone and internet orders.

Hansalim carries some 1,900 products. Agriculture, fisheries and livestock foods include rice, minor grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, livestock and seafood.

Processed foods include dairy products, fruit jam, sauces, tofu, noodles, dumplings and snacks; while household goods include cosmetics, ecofriendly detergents, toilet rolls and books.

The Hansalim initiative also organises organic school lunches as well as food and dietary education courses, school excursions to farms and production sites, social gatherings for CC members and consumer-producer exchange programs, research programs, food mile campaigns, special ‘good harvest’ celebrations and festivals, public seminars and conferences as well as many other social/political/ fundraising and international networking campaigns.

Government grants

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) is the government body responsible for regulations for fresh organic produce and grains. Regulations for processed organic foods are implemented by the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA).

Organic labelling requirements are included in the EnvironmentallyFriendly Agriculture Promotion Act (EFAPA) and are set by the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service (NAQS).

Since 1994, government grants and subsidised loans have been paid to the farmers who were already practising sustainable agriculture.

In December 1997, the EFAPA was passed to support sustainable agriculture in the Republic of Korea. This Act emphasised the importance of sustainable agriculture and the necessity for research, extension, financial support and market promotion activities. In 1999 the government heralded the era of sustainable agriculture in the Republic of Korea.

Direct payment program

The MAF has established a direct payment program for sustainable farming practices and a regulatory system to promote organic agriculture and to encourage farmers to participate.

The purpose of the direct payment program, apart from improving environmental conservation and promoting the reduction of agro-chemical import and use, is to pay farmers directly for the additional costs or farm income loss as a result of practising sustainable agriculture.

Participating farmers are required to operate their farms organically or as low-external-input sustainable agriculture.

The financial support is provided during the three-year period of conversion.

In 2002, the amount of direct payment to farmers was estimated at US$400 per hectare. (In 1999 the government spent a total amount of US$1.3 billion on this program in its infancy. More funding has been allocated from the budget to the program each successive year).

The government is pro-actively involved in growing the country’s organic produce sector.

In 1990 the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation started training farmers in organic farming methods in tandem with the farmer payment programs.

Farmer Field Schools have been established as well as university organic food production courses and organic farming expos.

The government also subsidises events or groups that promote organic agriculture.