Bangkok − Today, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presented FAO awards to four Asian farmers from Nepal, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Timor-Leste for outstanding achievements.

Hyunchan Lee
a model agribusiness farmer from the Republic of Korea

Born in the Republic of Korea in 1975, just as the East Asian nation began its flight to economic prosperity, Hyunchan Lee eagerly embraced cutting edge farm technology, all the while striving to master and preserve the best of Korea’s agriculture-based traditions.

Hyunchan was raised in rural Daegamyeon in Seongju County, a region well known for it production of Chamoe, or Korean Melon. Hyunchan’s love for farming developed early, as did his interest in learning and education. He attended Korea’s National College of Agriculture and Fisheries (KNCAF), established by the government in 1977 to educate students who wanted to become innovative food producers. Hyunchan spent a year in the horticulture industry in California, where he also studied English.

Today he is President of the alumni association of his former Alma Mater, KNCAF. He is a successful farmer, growing apples from Italy and yellow soybeans from which Korea’s famous Dwenjang bean sauce is made. Still valuing education as much as ever, he shares his passion about advanced farming techniques with others, working to improve farm incomes and the quality of food and life in rural Korea.

“After graduating, I set up a crop developing club in 2008 to help boost the quality of farm produce by sharing technology information,” says Hyunchan. “Also, we organize group purchases for farm equipment to reduce our operating costs.”

In the next few years, his Crop Development Club, as part of the Country Purification Movement, began cleaning up the environment. “We collected garbage from around town, on farmland and in nearby streams,” explains Hyunchan. “In 20 field campaigns we collected 12 000 used bottles of pesticides and 3.4 metric tonnes of used plastic bags.”

Hyunchan is optimistic about the future of Korean agriculture. He says, “The success of Korean agriculture comes from the hard work and diligence of Korean farmers and their willingness and ability to adopt new high tech methods of farming. It is equally because the Korean government has invested heavily in rural infrastructure and knowledge development in rural areas.” According to Hyunchan, most cities in Korea have a public sector agricultural training centre to transfer new technology and learning to local farmers.

“I’m generally positive about the future,” says Hyunchan. “Though Korean agriculture cannot compete directly with many other developed countries in this area, we can do really well in niche areas with top quality products and environmentally friendly foods. There’s also the need to invest responsibly in food production in places like Africa. We can help others improve their agriculture and grow more food to promote sustainable food security. In such an exchange, both sides must win.”

Hyunchan and his wife have a daughter and a son with another child on the way. Asked if he’d like his children to farm, he was quick to reply with a broad smile: “I’d be very happy if my children decided to become farmers.”

The award ceremony was part of today’s Asia-Pacific observance of World Food Day - the 65th anniversary of FAO’s foundation in Quebec, Canada on 16 October 1945.

HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the ceremony. The Thai minister of agriculture and cooperatives, other senior Thai government officials, Bangkok based members of the diplomatic corps, UN organizations and civil society were in attendance.

A keynote address “United against hunger” was delivered by Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

= = = = =

Print quality photographs of the award ceremony are available from [email protected]

More information at:
http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/worldfoodday/en/