Trends in South Korea’s Grants-Based Aid for Agricultural Sector in Developing Countries

Abstract

Agriculture is the major income source in many developing countries. Official development assistance (ODA) contributes to agricultural development in those countries to alleviate poverty and hunger. Among the significant ODA donors, the Republic of Korea holds a unique position with its transformation from a recipient to a donor. The main objective of this article is to examine Korea’s grants-based ODA disbursements to agricultural sectors for its contribution to agricultural development and food security in its recipients. The data for analysis were collected from the KOICA Statistics Service and OECD DAC Query Wizard for International Development Statistics for agricultural sectors. Results showed Korea continued disbursing the largest share of its agricultural grants to Asia while gradually shifting its investment to Africa. Other regions received relatively small amounts of agricultural aid. However, within regional disbursements to agricultural sectors, each region received distinct shares by aid type, based on their needs and Korea’s national interest or aid policy.

For agricultural capacity-building, the analysis identified evolution of the training program’s main focus over the last 25 years. This shift from technical capacity improvement to software one indicated Korea’s efforts to better align its aid policy with international norms for aid effectiveness.