Jeonnam Province, Nationwide First Organic Ecological Village Development Blueprint

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Jeonnam Province announced on the 14th that it has established the nation’s first-ever “1st Five-Year Comprehensive Plan for Fostering Organic Ecovillages” aimed at spreading sustainable organic farming for the environment and future generations and increasing residents’ income through organic ecovillages.

The comprehensive plan’s goals are to nurture the current 34 organic ecovillages to 100 by 2026, increase the number of organic ecovillages with annual sales exceeding 1 billion KRW to 100 through high value-added creation via the convergence organic industry, achieving a total annual sales of 100 billion KRW within the province, and to cultivate 10,000 agricultural and rural supporters.

To this end, Jeonnam Province will invest 243.2 billion KRW by 2026 to implement a total of 52 projects across four sectors. By sector, the budget is allocated as follows: 101.1 billion KRW for fostering 100 eco-friendly and low-carbon ecovillages, 94.2 billion KRW for establishing a convergence organic industrial ecosystem, 7.3 billion KRW for activating the Jeonnam-style organic ecovillage cooperative system, and 40.5 billion KRW for expanding the value of agriculture and rural areas.

The organic ecovillage fostering project supports projects independently discovered by village residents, such as production and distribution facilities, targeting villages that have led eco-friendly farming and contributed to increasing farm household income.

Since 2009, Jeonnam Province has designated and managed “organic ecovillages” as a successful model of organic farming villages with high agricultural environmental conservation value, the first in the nation.

Organic ecovillages have established themselves as models of prosperous agriculture and rural communities through organic agricultural product production, operation of various natural ecological experience programs, organic restaurants, natural healing, ecological education, homestays, and urban-rural exchanges.

The project to build a convergence organic industrial ecosystem that creates future food sources is being promoted with the goal of achieving 100 billion KRW in annual sales for organic ecovillages within the province.

Major projects include discovering convergence models linking organic farming and ecovillage resources, entering Namdo Market, installing local food direct stores, supporting TV home shopping, and establishing diversified sales channels and stable market routes.

The Jeonnam-style organic ecovillage harmony platform will be promoted by forming a province-level organic ecovillage development council led by residents. The plan is to revitalize organic ecovillages by securing a stable income base through cooperative systems such as joint facility support, integrated brand development and nurturing through organization and scaling, and joint market responses.

Additionally, to expand the value of agriculture and rural areas, the strategy is to cultivate about 10,000 agricultural and rural supporters by 2026 by forming sisterhood ties with 100 outsiders per village annually. This will foster national consensus on eco-friendly farming and induce a virtuous cycle system of ecological conservation and experiential consumption.

A Jeonnam Province official said, “Revitalizing organic ecovillages is essential to establishing a sustainable agricultural and rural economic structure,” adding, “Using the five-year plan for fostering organic ecovillages as a stepping stone, we will transform organic ecovillages into spaces that not only produce safe agricultural products but also expand the value of agriculture and rural areas and improve the quality of life for farmers, thereby increasing residents’ happiness index.”