Urbanites shaping future with farming

An instructor shows how to prune pear trees to students of farming education at an orchard in Seoul. The edcuation program was organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to help urbaites' settle in the country.

/ Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Seoul City provides three-month course for farmer hopefuls

By Kim Rahn

A lot of office workers become sick and tired of urban life and dream about settling down in rural areas to make a living while farming instead. And some people take on the challenge to make this dream come true, though it’s not easy to give up city life and start a completely new one.

Country life is actually far from leisurely or romantic — farming is different from gardening, and the urban community is wholly different from a rural one. Many of the so-called “returnees to farming” make a U-turn back to the city after a bitter experience.

“It is mainly because of the lack of information about rural life. ‘Returnees’ should be a part of the rural community, but they tend to maintain the lifestyle and neighbor relationships they used to have in the city. Some of them look down on rural people, causing conflicts with their new neighbors,” said Heo Nam-don, manager at the Agriculture Technology Center, an affiliated organization of Seoul Metropolitan Government.


Wholly different environment

To minimize such conflicts and help such returnees settle in the country, the city government organized a three-month course on farming and rural life last year. Most of the classes focused on the practical, not theory, such as actual farming techniques, agricultural management and information on farmland as well as facility purchase and registration.

A total of 91 people took the course in two terms — 46 in the first term and 45 people in the second term.

“Almost all of them were office workers. None of them have ever engaged in farming before, although some of those in their 50s and 60s, who were born in farming regions, used to help their parents when they were young,” said Song Im-bong, the team leader of the city government’s Economic Promotion Headquarters.

“Most of the older trainees took the course as they wanted to start a second life in the country after retirement, while the younger ones see farming as a new chance to start a business during an economic crisis,” Song said. Thirteen of the 91 participants were in their 30s and 24 were in their 40s.

When selecting the trainees, the city gauged the strength of their will to be engaged in farming and whether they have any connection to the region they wanted to go — two main factors which determined successful settlement in the country. “And the 91 people participated enthusiastically, with none of them giving up at any point,” Song said.

After completing the course, 19 of them have started rural lives, although it is the beginning stage of settlement — buying houses and farmland, building facilities and registering with local authorities. Another 33 people plan to start their preparations this year, and the remaining 39, after 2012, Song said.

Sales network

Choi Jong-bae, 34 years old, is one of those settling in the country after completing the city government’s course.

The former computer programmer created a website for a salted cabbage producing company a few years ago. “The company couldn’t make transactions directly with consumers, but I thought it would be possible for sure on the Internet and can be a good business venture. So I decided to do it myself,” Choi said.

Putting his idea into practice was easier for him than others, as his parents and brother are already farmers in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province. His brother offered part of his farmland to Choi, and he borrowed seed money to build a cabbage salting facility from the local authority.

He opened an online direct-transaction shopping mall and has sold salted cabbage and codonopsis lanceolata root — partly raised by Choi and partly by his neighbors. He also plans to trademark codonopsis lanceolata root raised in his region together with the neighbors.

“They said they would participate in my business, but half in doubt because they were not well aware of the power of online marketing. I can’t change their thinking all at once, but they’ll have more trust in me if I help them sell their products online and make a good profit,” he said.

Life-long dream

Choi said he had only thought about online sales networks but learned of various offline networks through Seoul’s education program. “I also learned a lot about basic farming skills.”

Another trainee, 44-year-old Jo Byung-sub, said she achieved her life-long dream of living in the country through the education course. In the past Jo worked at a pharmaceutical firm but had bought land in Gyeonggi Province, planning to live and farm there her children entered college.

But she decided to hasten her plan after her friend told her that poultry farming earned a good income. The education course by the city government also prompted her to do so.

While taking the course, she bought land in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province. Jo recently built a house there along with a chicken pen and bought chickens.

“As a city person, I barely knew anything about farming. I’m only at the beginning stage but have already had difficulty in the transition and troubles with family members. But the education gave me confidence and I’ll do my best to adapt myself to the new lifestyle,” she said.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr