Residents to Provide Essential Rural Services Themselves... Ministry of Agriculture to Recruit "Social Solidarity Economy Organizations"

Applications accepted until August 14
Approximately three consortia to be selected, each receiving project funding of up to 10 million won
Preference given to consortia serving basic-income rural areas

The government is launching an initiative to identify "social solidarity economy organizations," in which residents themselves directly provide essential living services such as laundry, meals, childcare, and caregiving in rural areas.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on July 23 that it is seeking to recruit social enterprises, preliminary social enterprises, village enterprises, self-sufficiency enterprises, and social ventures that will provide services in rural regions by forming consortia with service communities or social farms.

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated, "The government is working to address service gaps in rural areas by fostering resident-based social solidarity economy organizations such as service communities and social farms. However, the number of such organizations in rural areas is still far lower compared to cities, and examples of collaboration between these organizations are limited, which restricts the range of services that can be offered. Through this initiative, we plan to discover collaborative models in which other types of social solidarity economy organizations, such as social enterprises, can leverage their business capabilities through partnerships within the local networks of service communities and social farms to provide services,” the official explained.

Organizations wishing to participate should refer to the announcements posted on the social agriculture portal and the social enterprise portal, fill out the application form, and submit it to Korea Rural Community Corporation—the nationwide support agency for rural economic and social services—by August 14. Korea Rural Community Corporation will then support the formation of consortia between applicant organizations and service communities or social farms. Finally, participating organizations will be selected based on the business plans submitted by the consortia.

The project will be divided into three types: (1) provision of community-based social services for daily living, (2) linking employment for vulnerable groups, and (3) building local circular economies. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to select approximately three consortia in total and provide up to 10 million won in project funding per group. Consortia that provide services in basic-income rural areas will be given preference during selection.

The ministry also plans to use successful models identified through this initiative as a reference to provide consulting support, including locally tailored collaboration models and business planning, for rural social solidarity economy organizations. It will also continue to build networks for ongoing collaboration among such organizations operating in rural regions.

Jeon Hanyoung, Director General of the Rural Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "We will promote cooperation among social solidarity economy organizations to create new competitive advantages for rural services. Through this initiative, we hope to discover a range of collaborative models formed by social farms, service communities, and social enterprises, and to further expand economic and social services that can have a tangible impact on rural residents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.