농가 및 농업인 정의에 관한 연구

Abstract

이 연구에서는 농가와 농업인의 정의를 둘러싼 쟁점과 해외사례를 정리하고 개선 방향을 제시하였다. 구체적으로 농가와 농업인에 대한 개념적·통계적·법적 정의를 체계적으로 분류하고, 농업생산주체로서 농가와 농업인의 정의가 갖는 문제점을 정리하였다. 정책 관점에서 농업인의 정의만큼이나 농업인의 식별이 중요한 문제인데, 농업인의 식별을 위한 현재의 체계가 가지고 있는 한계에 대해서도 제시하고 있다. 또한, 국내 제도의 개선 방향에 대한 시사점을 얻기 위해 미국, 유럽, 일본, 대만의 사례를 살펴보고 국내 상황에 필요한 시사점을 도출하였다. 결론에서는 현재의 농업인 정의를 단순히 고치는 것에서 나아가 어떤 정책을 누구에게 적용할 것인가 하는 문제를 검토할 필요가 있다는 의견을 제시하였으며 사업자 등록의 필요성을 제기하고 있다.

Background and Purpose ○As cash assistance programs such as the Direct Payment System for Public Benefit and cash payments for farmers are newly introduced, there are heated debates on the payment eligibility. As government support programs for agriculture mainly aim to assist agricultural holdings producing agricultural products, a person who is qualified for the eligibility criteria is a main producer in the agricultural holding, also called a farmer. Legally speaking, the Framework Act on Agriculture, Rural Community, and Food Industry (afterward, the Framework Act) specify the qualifications and requirements for farmers, which were set decades ago and has been slightly amended afterward. In reality, there are many different opinions on the current criteria of farmers. Some people think those need to be changed to better reflect changing farm business environment. Discussions on the definition of farmers are very complicated controversy because it is not only related to the definition itself but also the identification system for farmers. The question of who farmer is interrelated with how to identify farmers.

○From policy perspectives, it is essential to clarify policy targets so that this study addresses discussions on the definition of a farmer and a farm as policy targets. Doing so, this study sorts out the problems of and limitations in the current definition of farmers. Through such endeavors, the definition, scope, and status of farmers and farm households will be reconsidered for the clarification of policy targets and the policy suggestions will be provided in the end.

Research Methodology ○This research used literature reviews, surveys, and statistical data analysis. Also, suggestions and comments from researchers were considered. For literature reviews, we explored local and overseas statistical data on farmers’ definition, documents related to regulations and laws, and previous research papers. Our surveys targeted farmers and experts. We sent online and offline (by post) questionnaires to 2,514 farmers and received 1,153 answers. Furthermore, the Delphi method, an interactive process that repeated surveys with 282 experts, with which we obtained answers from 60 participants. We used the Statistics Korea’s census of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries to examine the projections of farmers’ population for empirical analysis. Besides, we sought consultations through research councils and various interviews. To inspect overseas cases in the U.S., the E.U., Japan and Taiwan, we reviewed manuscripts commissioned to experts for information on those countries’ regulatory definitions for farm households, farmers, and farm businesses.

(For more information, please refer to the report.)