해외농업개발 활성화를 위한 중장기 추진전략 수립연구

Abstract

정부는 2012년 식량안보를 강화할 목적으로 관련법을 제정하고 “해외농업개발 종합계획(2012∼2021)”을 수립함으로써 제도적으로 해외농업개발을 독려하고 있다. 특히, 우리나라는 곡물의 대부분을 수입에 의존하기 때문에 국제곡물시장의 불안정성이 심화되면 식품의 원료나 가축 사료 공급이 어려워져 국내 관련 시장에 혼란이 가중될 가능성이 높다. 따라서 정부는 대부분의 곡물 수입을 몇몇 다국적 기업에 의존하고 있는 현실을 직시하고 해외농업개발을 통해 국내 관련 시장의 안정화와 국가의 식량안보를 강화하고자 노력하고 있다. 이에 본 연구는 향후 우리나라가 해외농업개발 정책을 추진할 때 고려하여야 할 사항을 검토하고 현실적인 추진전략을 제시하고자 하였다.

본 연구는 민간기업의 해외투자 측면과 공공 부분의 식량안보 강화라는 목표로 분류하고 이에 대한 중장기 추진전략을 제시하였다. 이를 통해 향후 우리나라의 해외농업개발 방향과 추진 방안을 제안하였으며, 정부의 제2차 종합계획 수립 시 참고할 만한 다양한 정보를 제공하고자 하였다.

우리나라의 해외농업개발 역사는 오래되었으나 정부에서 적극적으로 지원하기 시작한 지는 10년 정도에 불과하다. 농업, 특히 해외농업 분야 투자의 특성상 가시적 성과가 도출되기에는 상당한 시간과 물적 투자가 소요되기 때문에 단기 성과에 초점을 두기보다 장기 투자로 인식해야 할 것이다.

Background of Research As international grain prices skyrocketed in 2007~2008 and 2011~2012, the necessity of reconsideration of grain supply structure has been raised, and discussions on strengthening food security through overseas agricultural development are continuing. Originally 35% of domestic grain consumption was targeted to be procured from abroad by 2021. However, grain imports from overseas agricultural development were way below the target due to various reasons such as the lack of distribution and logistics infrastructure of the countries in which investment was made. Therefore, the government reflected the current status and reduced the carry-in target from overseas agricultural development to 10% of domestic consumption (to 1.38 million tons by 2018). Although the number of enterprises making overseas agricultural investment is increasing, the government's strategy to support overseas agricultural development has been limited due to the fact that the carry-in of grain from those countries was low, and the budget for loans and subsidies for the enterprises was continuously reduced. In this context, based on the understanding of the agricultural development policy of the target country and the current state of overseas agricultural development policy in Korea, a new strategy for the 2nd phase of the comprehensive plan on the Korean overseas agricultural development and supporting measures are suggested. In addition, a way to utilize ODA for overseas agricultural development and related action plans are introduced.

Method of Research This research on overseas agricultural development has been carried out through the review of the previous studies: 1) outline of overseas agricultural investment/performance by Korean enterprises and 2) types of overseas agricultural investment and their international significance. Secondly, in order to grasp the current state of overseas agricultural development by Korean entities, the statistics of the companies’ economic activities are analyzed. In addition, the results of the survey conducted on those companies in 2016 by KREI were analyzed. Then the agricultural development strategies and related supporting policies of major target countries were compared to each other after deriving their development needs in the agricultural sector. Furthermore, the cases of major countries’ overseas agricultural investment, such as Japan, China, the Middle East are reviewed and implications are derived for establishing medium- and long-term strategy of promoting overseas agricultural development for Korea.

Research Results and Implications For overseas agricultural investment, 169 Korean companies have entered into 29 countries in various regions including Central and South America, North America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Russia (Far East), Africa and Oceania. For example, the agricultural products that were invested in Southeast Asia include cassava, mango, corn, coffee, cashew nuts, beans, bananas, and palm oil. This shows that the entrants tried to convert and diversify business items to maintain profitability and to enhance sustainability of their business. In other words, the 2nd phase of the comprehensive plan for Korea’s overseas agricultural development needs to consider related supportive programs including high-value-added items, related production activities, and the promotion of the agricultural industry that encompasses its whole value chain. Most of the accomplishments of the 1st comprehensive plan of supporting overseas agricultural development were achieved in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asian countries (Russia's Far East, Indonesia and Cambodia). Since 2017, the targets of Korea’s overseas agricultural development has shifted from strengthening food security to supporting agro-businesses’ extension to overseas, particularly supporting private enterprises. The Korean government's strategy for the first phase of the comprehensive plan (2012-2021) of overseas agricultural development and its actual implementation were not properly connected and coordinated. As there was a lack of linkage between strategies for achieving the goals and supporting measures (with financing), the second phase of the comprehensive plan needs to strengthen the link between the components of detailed projects and the government’s loan related regulations. In that sense, there are some aspects that need to be considered in establishing Korea’s medium- and long-term strategy for promoting overseas agricultural development. Firstly, the private sector's entry into the overseas agriculture sector should be promoted thoroughly to strengthen Korea’s agriculture industry. Particularly, when the entry of private enterprises is promoted, the development of entire value chain of target countries’ agricultural industry should be analyzed, including production and distribution of agricultural products, agricultural machinery, post-harvest management and technology, and input. In particular, both governments need to try to reduce the uncertainties and risk factors that concern private companies through support policies. In the future, the structure of overseas agricultural development projects needs to be divided into public projects to strengthen the food security of the nation and agro-business extension that supports the profit generation of the private enterprises so as to comply with the purpose and the definition of the overseas agricultural development law of Korea. In the public sense, overseas agricultural development projects should be pursued in the long run with the purpose of strengthening national food security and self-reliability for future generations. However, considering the competence of the agricultural public corporation of Korea, it is necessary to utilize the public sector which has the capacity to understand and utilize the dynamics of the futures market and/or the international grain market. Considering the size of government support and its inherent budget limitation, overseas agricultural development needs to focus on certain areas by selecting and concentrating on specific items (grain, bio-energy, raw materials, etc.) and/or high-income crops thereof. Concerning technical support for Korean companies, it would be appropriate that the support for overseas agricultural development is promoted through the establishment of new “Agricultural Support Centers”, which can be promoted as a subsidy project, and through strengthening cooperation with KOPIA centers in each country. In the medium and long term, the revitalization of overseas agricultural development by expanding recipient groups to be supported and financed should be the first priority to improve the conditions to encourage the participation of private companies. In addition, the details of the subsidy program should be restructured considering the demands of private companies with willingness to invest in the overseas agriculture sector. In order to carry out the proposals and action plans proposed in this study, the support system for overseas agricultural development such as related laws and regulations should be reformed. In particular, the second comprehensive plan should expand the scope of its target business so that the purpose of the strategy can be achieved effectively. As the scope of overseas agricultural development projects is expanded, the demand for know-how and technologies for various fields such as production, post-harvest management, distribution, sales, and management in the agriculture sector will increase. Therefore, the existing system of technology support needs to be restructured as well.

Researchers: Lee Daeseob, Choi Yongwoog, Lee Yoonjung, Ahn Gyumi, Seok Hyundeok Research period: 2017. 1. ~ 2017. 12. Email Address: ldaeseob@krei.re.kr