THE KOREA HERALD | By Sim Sung-tae | April 7, 2004
Over the last four decades, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation has strongly supported farmers, rural communities and agriculture by carrying out various businesses such as marketing and supply, banking and credit, and insurance businesses as well as extension and guidance services.
The Federation was established in 1961 under the Constitution of Korea and the Agricultural Cooperative Law. Today, it is the largest policy institution and the largest bank in the system, if member cooperatives are included.
Since the launch of the World Trade Organization in 1995, the environment surrounding Korean agriculture and the Federation have become more and more difficult. Agricultural markets have been further liberalized and the profitability of farming has been on the decline due to a downturn in food consumption.
Nevertheless, the Federation is increasing its efforts to survive international competition and effectively address the needs of member farmers.
To realize the vision of the world-best cooperative, it is focusing on improving its agricultural marketing and the competitiveness of Korean agriculture, and establishing an remarkable service system for member farmers.
"I believe that the importance of agriculture for life, for the environment and human welfare is also undisputed in the 21st century," said Chung Dae-kun, Federation chairman.
"The NACF is proud of its role in working to protect the health of Koreans, to preserve our environment and to maintain our food security. We will continue to move forward to make Korean agriculture more competitive and our rural communities vibrant," he added.
The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, comonly called "Nong-hyup" by Koreans, is a special institution that serves various important and practical purposes for the nation's economy by focusing on the growth of the agricultural sector.
One of the organization's many roles is to support environment-friendly farming. It provides education, and the necessary learning tools to guide farmers become more knowledgeable about the environmental issues related to farming.
Besides production, establishing a solid consumer-oriented distribution of products is another major task for the agricutlural organization.
Effectively linking consumers and farmers is a vital project for the Federatopm. It is increasing the number of distribution centers, and supplying agricultural products to high-profile online shopping stores like Samsung TESCO, CJ Home Shopping and Lotte Mart.
Besides focusing on reaching local consumers with the best quality products, the Federation is also ambitious about expanding overseas sale of homegrown agricultural products.
Part of the organization's overseas marketing include selecting of strategy products for specific countries (ex. vegetables for Japan, pears, tangerines for the U.S., citron tea for EU nations) and developing special brands.
The Federation is also well-known among Koreans for its reliable banking and credit services. Unlike other commercial banks, it provides comprehensive banking services to mobilize funds for agricultural development. This is because it is also a special bank established for agricultural development as stated in the Agricultural Cooperation Law.
Fund accumulated through the financial businesses are used to support the extension services for farmers and agricultural marketing. The Federation has acquired a reputation of being a "people's bank" with its convenient and comprehensive banking services and insurance business.THE KOREA HERALD:
