| Discussion on How to Define Farms and Farmers | |||
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| Author | Lim, Soyeong | ||
| Views | 48497 | Publication Date | 2021.03.15 |
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Background and Purpose ○As cash assistance programs such as the Direct Payment System for Public Benefit and cash payments for farmers are newly introduced, there are heated debates on the payment eligibility. As government support programs for agriculture mainly aim to assist agricultural holdings producing agricultural products, a person who is qualified for the eligibility criteria is a main producer in the agricultural holding, also called a farmer. Legally speaking, the Framework Act on Agriculture, Rural Community, and Food Industry (afterward, the Framework Act) specify the qualifications and requirements for farmers, which were set decades ago and has been slightly amended afterward. In reality, there are many different opinions on the current criteria of farmers. Some people think those need to be changed to better reflect changing farm business environment. Discussions on the definition of farmers are very complicated controversy because it is not only related to the definition itself but also the identification system for farmers. The question of who farmer is interrelated with how to identify farmers. ○From policy perspectives, it is essential to clarify policy targets so that this study addresses discussions on the definition of a farmer and a farm as policy targets. Doing so, this study sorts out the problems of and limitations in the current definition of farmers. Through such endeavors, the definition, scope, and status of farmers and farm households will be reconsidered for the clarification of policy targets and the policy suggestions will be provided in the end. Research Methodology ○This research used literature reviews, surveys, and statistical data analysis. Also, suggestions and comments from researchers were considered. For literature reviews, we explored local and overseas statistical data on farmers’ definition, documents related to regulations and laws, and previous research papers. Our surveys targeted farmers and experts. We sent online and offline (by post) questionnaires to 2,514 farmers and received 1,153 answers. Furthermore, the Delphi method, an interactive process that repeated surveys with 282 experts, with which we obtained answers from 60 participants. We used the Statistics Korea’s census of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries to examine the projections of farmers’ population for empirical analysis. Besides, we sought consultations through research councils and various interviews. To inspect overseas cases in the U.S., the E.U., Japan and Taiwan, we reviewed manuscripts commissioned to experts for information on those countries’ regulatory definitions for farm households, farmers, and farm businesses. (For more information, please refer to the report.) |
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