Low-income Households
We also visited and sent official letters to the administrative agencies and surveyed 553 socially vulnerable people, 129 municipal civil officers in charge, and 227 project members to examine the current status of the government’s agricultural food support projects and procurement of agricultural food.
We reviewed the literature on agricultural food support projects in other countries and collected the data. We also commissioned the experts in Japan and France to write the manuscript on the process of implementing policies for agricultural products support in their countries.
The expert committee reviewed the survey result to propose the measures to improve the support system for socially vulnerable groups. It also analyzed “Household Finance and Welfare Survey” by the National Statistical Office, “National Health and Nutrition Survey” by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and “Welfare Panel Survey” by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs to establish the operational alternative.
Results and Implications
The direction for support of agricultural food for the socially vulnerable can be summarized as four objectives. Firstly, it must guarantee the required nutrition so that the citizens can manage the healthy dietary life. Secondly, it is necessary to strengthen the link between the support of agricultural food and the domestic farmers and producers from the continuous and mutual benefit aspect. Thirdly, the delivery means must support food effectively by reflecting beneficiaries' life cycle and consumption pattern. Lastly, the monitoring and beneficiary education must be provided to ensure the effective project operation.
Our analysis indicated that the expenditure on food by the socially vulnerable groups is far less than the minimum food expense level, and thus it is necessary to improve the food expense support currently paid in the form of the livelihood benefit.
It is necessary to adopt the agricultural food voucher program based on the agricultural food consumption and nutrient intake status to ensure that the socially vulnerable
groups have access to the needed agricultural food.
The agricultural food voucher program based on the agricultural food consumption and nutritional intake status will guarantee that the socially vulnerable groups have access to the needed agricultural food. The recommended amount of support is based on the target for the minimum food expense (based on the minimum cost of living) and the healthy diet configuration method (reflecting the nutrient intake and recommended intake standard). It is calculated to be 11,587-85,185 won/person/month assuming the maximum amount to be the difference between the actual food expense and the current food expense support. For selecting the supplied items, the food groups in shortage and major nutritional foods, the evaluation by the socially vulnerable and the persons in charge at the municipalities and agencies, and the domestic agricultural production basis must be considered together. The stores that can accept the food voucher must include the small supermarkets and convenience stores if they qualify for specific criteria to sell the fresh foods to ensure the accessibility. While the electronic payment of vouchers is needed to prevent the stigma by the beneficiaries and monitor the program operation effectively, it is necessary to operate various types of vouchers differently in the short term since some stores do not have the POS.
In the case of meal service provided by welfare agencies, there is the need to improve the quality standard of food materials and the procurement system. The enactment of the law on public meal service to mandate the food quality regulation in contracts will be needed to manage the food material quality and safety. Moreover, municipal administrations must open the new public meal service support center or use the existing distribution network to build the supply chain that is suitable to the local condition to secure the stable procurement of food materials.
Enactment or amendment of law is needed to systematically implement the policy of agricultural support to the socially vulnerable. This study suggested the enactment of
“The Framework Act on Citizens’ Diet and Health (tentatively named)” as the ideal measures and reviewed the amendment of “The Framework Act on Agriculture, Rural Community and Food Industry” as the alternative. The education of the socially vulnerable groups on a diet is crucial to apply the agricultural food support for the
socially vulnerable to their dietary management effectively. The education must be closely related to the process of agricultural food purchase, cooking, and intake for each age group to be effective. It is also necessary to develop the food and meals and produce and distribute the diets suitable for the socially vulnerable elderly and improve the delivery means since the socially vulnerable groups are fast aging. Moreover, the program to facilitate electronic payment for the producers’ groups is needed to strengthen the link with farmers, and the agricultural food support platform must be established to efficiently deliver the agricultural foods to welfare agencies for stable support.
Conclusion
This study is significant in that it comprehensively reviewed and evaluated the governmental support schemes of agricultural food support for the socially vulnerable groups, evaluated the effectiveness of cash payment, and suggested the ways to improve the schemes based on the nutrition and diet as well as the food material quality. The agricultural food voucher and improvement of public meal service suggested as policy alternatives are expected to bring the benefit of improving the health of the socially vulnerable groups and increasing consumption of fresh and high-quality agricultural products. We hope that this study will become the opportunity to operate the agricultural food support scheme more efficiently and build the stable agricultural food supply system.
Researchers: Sohn Hakgi, Seok Hyundeok, Kim Myungeun E-mail Address: hgsohn@krei.re.kr