농업·농촌에 대한 2006년 국민의식 조사 결과

Abstract

DDA 다자간 협상과 한-미 FTA 협상이 진행되면서 농업이 국가 통상정책의 주요이슈로 다루어지고 있고, 사회적 관심도 그만큼 증가하였다. 이 과정에서 농업계와 비농업계의 상황인식 차이가 갈등으로 나타나기도 하면서 농업문제에 대한 국민적인 공감대 형성 필요성이 제기되고 있다. 농산물 시장개방 확대에 따른 농업인 피해보상과 대응책 마련에는 무엇보다 국민들의 관심과 지원이 필요하다. 따라서 농업 대책에 대한 도시민과 농업인의 여론을 파악하여 정책연구에 반영하는 것은 매우 중요한 일이다. 이와 같은 문제인식을 바탕으로 한국농촌경제연구원은 매년 말 당 연구원의 현지통신원을 대상으로 실시해 온 농업인 의식조사를 2006년에는 일반국민까지 확대하여 실시하였다. 이 조사 보고서는 정책연구에 참고할 목적으로 2006년 12월부터 2007년 1월까지 도시민 1,500명과 농업인 857명을 대상으로 실시한 농업·농촌에 대한 국민의식조사 결과를 정리한 자료이다. 도시민은 전국의 시군 성인 남녀를 대상으로 인구비례에 따라 계층별로 할당표본추출로 표본을 선정하였으며, 농업인은 당 연구원의 조사패널인 현지통신원 2,000명을 전수 조사하였다. 이 조사에서 수입개방을 최소화하고 농산물 시장을 보호해야 한다는 여론이 도시민 60.7%, 농업인 69.8%로 나타났음. 어느 정도 개방이 불가피 하다거나 적극 개방해야 한다는 견해도 도시민은 39.2%, 농업인은 29.4%로 도시민이 10% 정도 높게 나타났다. 또, 도시민은 농업인이 농산물 시장개방에 반대하는 태도에 대해 74.5%가 ‘이유 있는 태도이므로 이해한다’고 심정적으로 공감하는 태도를 보여 일부 비판 여론과는 다른 결과를 보였다.

결과적으로 이번 조사를 통해 소비자인 도시민과 생산자인 농업인 모두 우리 농업의 중요성과 가치를 인정하고 있지만, 농산물 시장개방에 대응하는 접근방식에는 인식의 차이가 있음을 발견하였다.

Researchers surveyed 1,500 city residents and 857 farmers to find out about their opinions of agriculture and rural life. The results of the survey, which was conducted from December 2006 to January 2007, showed that the city residents think "agriculture will remain an important industry even in the future (84%)" and "the industry needs to be protected (60.7%)." With respect to those farmers who stand against the complete opening of the agricultural market, 74.5% of the city residents said that the farmers' feelings are understandable. Also, nine out of ten city residents (90.4%) recognized the importance of "public functions" agriculture and rural communities play, but only 52.8% of them said that they approve of a government policy to additionally charge them with financial burdens to sustain the public goodness of agriculture and rural communities. Slightly more than a half of the city residents (51.3%) thought that the most desirable countermeasure to the further market opening is to improve the competitiveness of the agricultural industry itself, whereas an approximately same number of farmers considered a proper compensation policy as the best option to relieve the damage caused by the market opening. As to the means of compensation, the urban people preferred "indirect compensation (53.2%)" while the farmers opted for "direct compensation (49.8%)." This indicates that it is necessary to formulate a concrete policy with the conflicting views in mind. In terms of residential environment and living conditions, the urban people said that they are satisfied with their residential and living environment (14.8%) and that their quality of lives is 'relatively high' (14.8%). However, only 25% and 9.3% of the farmers said that they are satisfied with their living environment and quality of life, respectively. In addition, 71.3% of the urban people said that they wish to reside in an urban area after retirement, implying that an inducement program for rural residence is needed. As for the safety of agricultural products, 63.0% of the urban people said that they have trust in domestically produced agricultural products. A greater number of the urban people (78.7%) also said that domestic agricultural products are safer than those from the United States. With respect to the welfare policy for rural communities, 86.5% of the urban people admitted that, in consideration of the current state of welfare in rural areas, a complimentary policy is necessary. 75.4% of the urban people agree with the idea of a budget increase to augment the welfare in rural areas, implying that the respondents think political influence is essential to improve the quality of welfare in rural areas. Farmers' assessment of their rural lives and jobs has been changing in a positive way: 24.6% of the farmer respondents said that their quality of life last year (2006) has improved compared to that of 5 years ago and that of 2005. The number of respondents who said their quality of life has improved from the previous year of 2005 has increased by 6.6%. In terms of job satisfaction, 21.2% of the farmers, a 4.1% increase from the previous survey, said that they are satisfied with their job.

Researchers: Dong-Weon Kim and Hye-Jin Park Research period: 2006. 12. - 2007. 01. E-mail address: dongweon@krei.re.kr, frog78@krei.re.kr