In the past decade South Korea has increasingly looked at Africa as a viable economic partner. Attracting over 7,000 delegates in the year 2015, the Korea-Africa Forum (KAF), mean the countries are getting serious about growing cooperation and trade.
South Korea’s positive impact in Rwanda is largely a result of the Korea International Cooperation Agency’s involvement there. The agency is currently financing agricultural development programmes in Rwanda.
South Korea is increasingly running out of land on which to produce its food. Because of this they are looking for possibilities to carve out newer ones with African countries, one of whose Vision 2063 goals is to “[work] with women and youth in agriculture towards modernised agriculture and food production.”
South Korea has agricultural expertise, with each South Korean farmer producing on average 40 times more than their Chinese counterparts. Africa has both land and human capital (and also, a low human density thanks to the sheer geographic size of the continent). Bringing in the South Korean expertise would bring about larger quantities of produce; enough for South Korea to import and ultimately resolve the food insecurity threat for both parties.
