On Thursday, April 20, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Chung Hwang-geun met with French Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Marc Fesneau at the Government’s Sejong Office to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the agri-food sector.

Minister Jung emphasized that smart agriculture is an important pillar of agriculture with which to respond to recent challenges such as climate change and rural aging. He pointed out that it can lead to the innovative growth of agriculture, explaining that he is expanding the dissemination of smart agriculture technology to this end. Therefore, he called for continued information exchange and cooperation on smart agriculture between the two countries.

 Referring to France’s advanced animal welfare policies, he explained that the Republic of Korea is also planning to completely transform the framework of related laws and policies to realize One-Welfare, where both humans and animals are happy, and called for continued policy exchanges between the two countries to advance animal rights.

 He also explained that the company is implementing a new local food school lunch project in three countries, Guinea, Laos, and Somalia, and plans to join the School Meal Alliance, led by France and Finland, to actively participate in international cooperation to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including ending hunger and improving nutrition.

 School Meal Coalition: An international initiative launched by France and Finland on the occasion of the United Nations Food System Summit on September 21 to improve the quality and scale of school meals for improved nutrition, expand opportunities for smallholder farmers, and increase their contribution to local economies.

 In addition, the two ministers discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in the agri-food sector, including fostering young farmers for sustainable agriculture, policies to prevent livestock diseases, and measures to secure food security. In particular, Minister Chung Hwang-geun requested France’s interest and cooperation in finalizing the permit process for the export of Korean Samgyetang (Korean Ginseng chicken soup) to the European Union as soon as possible.

Source: Mafra.go.kr