‘Rural development key to poverty reduction’

UAF vice chancellor stresses the need to learn from Korean experience.

FAISALABAD: Agricultural development is essential for poverty reduction, Kil-Ung Kim, Pakistan-Korea Capacity Building Centre project manager, said on Tuesday.

He was addressing a gathering at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF).

He said South Korea had invested in rural development to end poverty and raise standards of living.

Speaking about Korean model of rural development, he said Saemaul Undong, new village movement, was launched on April 22, 1970 to uplift rural economy. He said the programme had helped instil in the rural population a sense of diligence, self-help and collaboration.

He said till 1970s Korea was amongst the poorest countries in the world. In 1970, he said, the country’s per capita income was $257. It rose to $1,393 by 1980.

He said under the programme high-yielding rice seed were distributed among farmers country-wide. This had resulted in a green revolution in the rural economy and enabled self-sufficiency in rice production. “This helped end food shortages and increase rural household incomes,” he said. He said with improvements in living standards achieved in the first phase, the programme had later focused on development of rural infrastructure.

The programme had been implemented in 33,267 villages (mauls), he said. He said under community-led governance model educated men and women were being elected to serve on the village assemblies. He said the education curriculam designed under the programme had focused on nurturing management and organisational skills. He said teaching methods used for the purpose were lectures, sharing of success stories, meditation and field trips.

UAF Vice Chancellor Iqrar Ahmad Khan stressed the need for learning from South Korea’s experience with rural development. He said food security was a major concern for Pakistan as thousands of acres of fertile land in the country was being converted into residential colonies.

MNS Agriculture University Rawalpindi’s Asif Ali also spoke on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2016.