| 2017 Public Opinion Survey on Agriculture and Rural Areas | |||
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| Author | Song, Seonghwan | ||
| Views | 48017 | Publication Date | 2018.01.30 |
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The Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) has conducted a public opinion survey on agriculture and rural areas at the end of each year targeting KREI local correspondents and urban citizens in order to identify demand for research and support establishing policies based on changes in awareness. The survey of 2017 was carried out from October 30 to November 30 among 2,436 respondents including 1,500 urban people and 936 farmers. A mail survey was conducted for farmers, and a professional research company was commissioned to visit and interview urbanites. On the importance of agriculture in the national economy, a positive response, "Agriculture will be important in the future," maintained a high level of about 70%, although the response has been on the decline both among farmers and urban people since 2011. Among the functions of agriculture and rural areas, both urban people and farmers positively recognized "contribution to conserving the environment and the ecosystem" (farmers 7.07 points, urban people 6.61 points) and "stable supply of food" (farmers 6.81 points, urban people 6.88 points). As for the social perception of agriculture compared with other industries or jobs, 62.7% of urban people and 29.3% of farmers thought the perception was "positive." It was revealed that farmers themselves had a negative perception of agriculture. On all items (rice, livestock products, fresh vegetables, and fruit), the majority of urban people responded that the competitiveness of domestic agricultural and livestock products is "higher" than imported products. The respondents evaluated that the most competitive item is fresh vegetables (71.3%), followed by livestock products (Korean beef) (65.5%), rice (58.9%), livestock products (pork) (56.3%), and fruit (53.0%). Seventy percent of urban people responded that the public interest value of agriculture and rural areas is "high." However, 53.8% of urban people were willing to pay additional tax to maintain the value. A high percentage of urban people considered rural areas as "places that preserve nature and rural landscapes and are good to rest in" but "places that lack welfare facilities including cultural, health care, and educational facilities." And 51.3% of urban people were in favor of increasing the budget for enhancing welfare for rural residents. Among urban people, 44.1% wanted to return to farming or rural areas after retirement. The urban residents hoped to return to farming or rural areas for rural life rather than in economic aspects. As for the time, 57.9% of urban people responded, "no concrete plan"; 23.9% "after 10 or more years"; and 11.8% "within 10 years." This result shows that systematic plans are not being established for returning to farming or rural areas. Urban people pointed out "quality" (91.4%) as the most important consideration in purchasing food, followed by "price" (87.7%) and "geographical origin" (69.9%). In case of more agricultural market opening, urban people responded that they would "purchase high-quality agricultural products" (41.4%), "purchase imported agricultural products if domestic ones are more expensive" (34.4%), and "purchase domestic agricultural products even if they are more expensive than imported ones" (24.2%). Concerning the food safety issues such as livestock diseases and the egg contamination scandal this year, 86.2% of farmers and 85.6% of urban people responded that the issues would affect the future consumption of domestic agricultural and livestock products. On the effect of the recently emerging fourth industrial revolution technologies on agricultural development, 50.4% of farmers and 58.3% of urban people responded that the effect is "high." Regarding the minimum wage increase, 88.0% of farmers and 82.9% of urban people responded that it influences the agricultural sector. As to Korea's future supply and demand of food, 67.7% of farmers and 53.7% of urban people thought the supply and demand unstable. The survey result indicates that farmers are more concerned about the future supply and demand of food than urban people are. Only 17.6% of farmers responded that they were "satisfied" with their job. The biggest reason for dissatisfaction was "low income for efforts" (60.4%). Farmers pointed out "labor shortage" as the biggest factor threatening farm management (16.6%). On whether to live in rural areas in the future, 84.6% of farmers responded that they would "continue to live in rural areas." Concerning satisfaction with the present rural life, "satisfied" farmers accounted for 40.7%, about double the proportion of "dissatisfied" farmers (21.0%). Researchers: Song Seonghwan and Park Hyejin Research period: 2017. 1. ~ 2017. 12. E-mail address: song9370@krei.re.kr, frog78@krei.re.kr |
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