Contact first name: Younga
Contact last name: Kim
Contact email: younga65@korea.kr
Street: Imgeokjungro, Goesan-eup
Postal code:
City: Goesan County
State: Chungbuk Province
Country: South Korea
Website:
| Deliverable | Notes |
|---|---|
| 1 - Set of principles and attributes | The most distinctive point about Goesan County is its willingness and support of forming private-public partnerships with organic farming and consumer cooperatives active in the county. With the largest concentration of organic farmers in Korea, Goesan County mainstreamed organic agriculture in all its policies. |
| 2 - Drivers and indicators of sustainable production and consumption | Goesan County is the birthplace of the major organic farmers’organizations and consumer cooperatives. It is the birthplacesof the “Father of Organic Farming”, the late Mr Won Kyung Son, Hansalim, iCOOP and Heuksalim which is the foremost private organic agriculture research institute in Korea. The Chungbuk Provincial Organic Agriculture Research Institute is based in the county as well as the Secretariat of IFOAM Asia and ALGOA (Asian Local Governments for Organic Agriculture). Organic agriculture in Goesan County is balanced with animal husbandry, crop productionand forestry. Production goes hand in hand with processing and the county supports distribution channels and supports organic cooperatives which sell its organic products in nearby cities.Goesan County has recently been selected as the “Urban Organic Farming Education Center” of Seoul Metropolitan Government. The selection was in favor of Goesan due to its many years’ of support given to urban-rural exchange programs which brings more than 5000 consumers annually for farm visits and onsite training. |
| 3 - Actual data on sustainable production and consumption | As Goesan County subsidies organic production and consumption, this can be easily monitored. Most of the organic produce are sold to organic cooperatives like Hansalim and iCOOP and recently to the local School Meal Support Centers which is a government sponsored body composed of farmers’ cooperatives, schools, CSOs and parents to purchase ingredients for school lunches.For example, about USD 10 million worth of Goesan organic products were sold in 3 Hansalim stores in 2016. |
| 4 - Policy reform proposals/arguments | Goesan County allocated US 85 million to organic farmers in 2016 and in proportion to theratio ofpopulationnationwide, this is the highest in South Korea.Another US 100 million was separately allocated for the development of new organic products.Goesan County will continue until 2019 as the holder of the Presidency of ALGOA and with 53 members in 16 countries in Asia, ALGOA is gathering more and more interest as the regional alliance of local governments in support of organic farming. More than a hundred government officials have been trained under the ALGOA Organic Foundation Course for the past 3 years. Local ALGOA branches are now under negotiation in many Asian countries.Goesan County has signed friendship agreements and MoUs with the major local governments in Asia to promote organic farming. |
| 5 - Training and education tools | The ALGOA Organic Foundation Course with the collaboration of the IFOAM Organic Academy has undertaken training in South Korea, Japan, and Kyrgyzstan in 2017 for local government policy makers and regional organic groups.In 2018, trainings in Indonesia (March), South Korea (April), Bangladesh (May) and Vietnam (November) have already been finalized. An annual ALGOA Summit brings together more than fifty local government leaders to share and learn from the best practices and successful case studies from different countries and to link up with the major strategies of the global organic movement. Please see: http://organicgovts.com. |
| 6 - Case studies of food systems | Goesan County has been cooperating with IFOAM Asia under the ALGOA project to document and showcase best practicesespecially among local governments in Asia: 1. Philippines: The municipalities of Dumingag, Kasuwagan and Bislig City. 2. Japan: Kisarazu City. 3. Indonesia: “1000 Organic Villages”. 4. Kyrgyzstan: Organic aymaks5. India: Timbaktu (co-recipient of the One World Award: recommended by IFOAM Asia)6. South Korea: School Meal Support Centers, Hansalim (co-recipient of the One World Award:recommended by IFOAM Asia)Further documentation will be undertaken on other local organic food systems linking with CSA and PGS as well as other social justice initiatives with like-minded organizations like Greenpeace(Food Sovereignty Program), RARE, etc. |
| 7 - Workshops/roundtables | Goesan County under the ALGOA project with IFOAM Asia has been undertaking this for the past 3 years and have allocated funding until 2019 for the Annual ALGOA Summit, ALGOA trainings and exchange programs in Asia. |