Abstract
South Korean cultivators share features with counterparts in both the global south and north. This combination of traits has produced a diversity of sources that underpin a food sovereignty movement. A case study of t’ojong, or native, seed activism illustrates how local systems of meaning and particular constellations of interests make food sovereignty appealing to a broad coalition of farmers, consumers, part-time cultivators, agricultural scientists, and activists for farmers and for women. The country’s experience demonstrates that responses to market encroachment on food production provide only part of the force driving food sovereignty movements.
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Notes
An exception is Burmeister and Choi (2012).
The information in this paragraph was presented by a lawyer-activist at a “T’ojong Seed Policy Panel” organized by the group Giving T’ojong Seeds, 1 Feb. 2020.
Seoul Urban Farming website, 12 Dec. 2019, https://cityfarmer.seoul.go.kr/brd/view.do?nttSn=1244&key=1905228807693&pageIndex=1&sc=&sw=&tr_code=sweb, last accessed 10 Oct. 2020.
Kyŏnggi Province Support Centre for Return Farmers website, online at https://www.refarmgg.or.kr/cop/bbs/selectBoardArticle.do?nttId=284&bbsId=BBSMSTR_000000000141, last accessed 15 Oct. 2020.
South Kyŏngsang Agriculture Resource Centre website, https://www.gyeongnam.go.kr/seed/index.gyeong?menuCd=DOM_000001004002002000, last accessed 19 Dec. 2020.
Abbreviations
- FPA:
-
Female peasants’ association
- FTA:
-
Free trade agreement
- GMO:
-
Genetically-modified organism
- LVC:
-
La via campesina
- RDA:
-
Rural development administration
- TRIPS:
-
Trade related aspects of intellectual property rights
- UPOV:
-
International union for the protection of new varieties of plants
- WTO:
-
World trade organization
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Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their interest and helpful comments. This research was supported by the Korean Studies Grant Program of the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2019-R25). The paper benefited from feedback at workshops in Bornholm, Copenhagen, and Kaohsiung, as well as in the Back to the Land course organized by Konstfack University. Jamie S. Davidson suggested the title and gave comments on earlier drafts. Anders Riel Muller was a source of helpful perspectives on Korean nationalism and food. Erik Mobrand gave invaluable feedback on multiple drafts.
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Kim, H. South and/or north: an indigenous seed movement in South Korea and the multiple bases of food sovereignty. Agric Hum Values 39, 521–533 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10263-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10263-5