South Korea needs to cope with global food shortage: Korea Herald

SEOUL - Massive lockdowns imposed around the world to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus have drastically slowed down international trade and food supply chains.

Along with Japan and Middle Eastern nations, it was recently singled out by a global market research firm as being especially vulnerable in the event of a food crisis. Russia recently restricted exports of wheat and all other grains for a temporary period. Vietnam stopped rice exports last month, followed by Cambodia. Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries are also poised to restrict exports of grains.

The shortage of seasonal farm labourers from neighbouring states imperils the production of many crops in the US and much of Western Europe.The rural population in the country more than halved over the previous two decades to 2.31 million in 2018, with the proportion of people aged 60 or above jumping from 39.3 percent to 62.8 per cent over the cited period, according to data from Statistics Korea.

The number this year was to be 4,797, but those invitations have mostly been cancelled or postponed, putting the production of some crops, including garlic and potatoes, at risk. Efforts should be stepped up to enhance agricultural productivity and make the farming sector more value-added by diversifying crops. Regulations should be lifted to attract more capital and advanced technologies into the agricultural industry.Korea saw its outbound shipments of agricultural products reach US$1.74 billion in the first quarter of 2020, up 5.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to data released by the Agriculture Ministry.

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