Agricultural policy reform and structural adjustment in Korea and Japan.

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter investigates the agricultural structure and its linkage to policies in Korea Republic and Japan. It first examines how agricultural structures and policies have evolved, and compares these between the two countries. Future policy directions and implications for further agricultural policy reform are then examined. It is revealed that although Korea and Japan share many features in common in terms of their agricultural sectors, Korean agriculture is much more inflexible as far as policy reform is concerned. The dominance of off-farm income for Japanese farm households means that it is possible to focus on a relatively limited set of issues, such as the enhancement of production efficiency targeted to the small number of full-time farmers and on the restoration of rural vitality mainly in remote hilly and mountainous areas. In contrast, Korean agriculture faces much greater difficulties, due to the continued dominance of agriculture as a source of income for farm households. It is argued that the most urgent priority for Korea in reforming its current agricultural policy is to reduce the size of the targeted group, i.e. the number of farmers. If farm employment could be lowered to a more manageable level, inflexibility in policy options would be reduced and the effectiveness of policy would be increased.