Implementation Plan and Implications of International Development Cooperation Projects for Agriculture in 2017

Abstract

 Agriculture-related ODA projects are carried out in various types such as a project, development consulting and invitational training by diverse institutions, including not only the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), the Rural Development Administration (RDA) and the Korea Forest Service (KFS), but also the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF), the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and local governments.  In 2017, ODA projects by Korea are continuously on the increase; however, the country still fails to meet the demands of the international community to enhance the percentage of multilateral aid and grant.– In the 2nd Basic Plan on International Development Cooperation, it is recommended to increase the ratio of multilateral aid to 25% or over and grant to 60% or over.  According to the government standards, budget for agriculture, forestry and fisheries is set by less than 10% of the total ODA budget; however, considering the fact that most developing economies highly rely on agriculture and have many populations in rural areas, the size of budget for these sectors should be expanded.  According to the analysis of agriculture-related projects from the implementation plan for 2017, budget of KRW 208.4 billion is appropriated for 207 projects: loan and grant projects by MOSF (EDCF) and MOFA (KOICA) account for 61.6% of the entire budget. The percentage of central government departments regarding agriculture and forestry such as MAFRA, RDA and KFS is 28.7%. As shown in the entire ODA sectors of Korea, the agricultural sector is also led by two government agencies—MOSF and MOFA.  When it comes to the type of ODA, project types are mainly implemented; technical cooperation with small expenditure per case accounts for about 17% based on the size of budget. Further, much effort is concentrated on bilateral aid, which is over 95%. Considering the demands of the international community, it is required to prepare policies in the direction of broadening the scope of multilateral aid.  In terms of projects executed by central government departments related to agriculture and forestry such as MAFRA, RDA and KFS, MAFRA and KFS have a high percentage of project-based ODA, while RDA focuses on carrying out technical cooperation works by utilizing the characteristics as an agricultural R&D institute.  While all of three departments mainly conduct bilateral aid tasks, KFS has implemented many multi-bilateral projects in cooperation with international agencies. As multi-bilateral projects include assessed contributions for international agencies in many cases, it is necessary to inspect closely whether those projects are clearly distinguished from core multilateral projects in accordance with the guidelines by MOFA.