Easing Distribution Burden for Farmers
and Establishing a Stable Income Base
Jeongeup City in North Jeolla Province is actively promoting the "2025 Local Food Direct Store Participating Farmers Commission Support Project."
According to the city on July 18, this support project was launched to reduce the distribution burden on farmers who supply agricultural products to local food direct stores in the region and to help establish a stable income base for them.
Jeongeup City is actively promoting the "2025 Local Food Direct Store Participating Farmers Commission Support Project." Photo by Jeongeup City
Currently, local food direct stores operated by Jeongeup Nonghyup, Jeongeup Horticultural Nonghyup, and the Forestry Cooperative charge participating farmers a total commission fee of 12% for supplying products. Under the new project, the city will support 3% of the commission, and Nonghyup will additionally cover 1%, so farmers will only need to pay 8% of the commission fee themselves.
The total project budget is 250 million won (entirely funded by the city). The support is available to farms or agricultural corporations that are registered and actually reside in Jeongeup City and supply primary agricultural products to the direct stores. However, livestock products and processed goods are excluded, and farms that received a non-compliance result in last year's pesticide residue inspection are also excluded from eligibility.
Support will be provided on a semi-annual basis, with each farm receiving between 1,000 won and 2 million won per half-year. The city plans to encourage farmers to reinvest the commission savings into producing high-quality agricultural products, thereby establishing a sustainable local food circulation structure in the region.
Ko Yuhwa, head of the Agricultural and Fisheries Distribution Division, said, "By sharing the commission fees that farmers used to bear under the existing system between the city and Nonghyup, we expect to help stabilize farm management. We will continue to strengthen the foundation for contract farming and enhance the competitiveness of local food distribution so that the region's agriculture can become even more vibrant."
The city plans to continue providing administrative support so that this project not only reduces the distribution burden on farmers but also helps local food become a sustainable distribution structure that benefits both consumers and producers.
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