KLRI : KOREA LEGISLATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Ⅰ. Backgrounds and Purposes

○ Despite the growing proportion and role of women in agriculture and rural areas, women are not properly recognized for their labor value or status as farmers.

- This is because in farm-oriented agricultural and rural culture, women have experienced secondary and subordinate status by playing the role of housework and care in the male-centered patriarchal order while in charge of farming with men.

○ Recognizing the role and importance of women in agricultural management, the Women's Agricultural and Fishery Promotion Act was enacted in 2001 to improve the rights and quality of life of female farmers, but the legal, social, and economic status of female farmers is still not properly guaranteed.

○ Since sustainable agriculture and rural areas will be possible only through the realization of gender equality in agriculture and rural areas, gender-sensitive perspectives need to be emphasized in the establishment and implementation of agricultural and rural policies, and the underlying laws need to be analyzed from a gender-sensitive perspective.

○ Among the various laws governing agriculture and rural areas, this study aims to find and evaluate discriminatory factors and derive improvement measures by targeting laws closely related to promoting gender-equal agricultural and rural policies, improving rights, status, and quality of life for female farmers.

- Analysis is conducted according to four criteria: gender classification or stereotypes, gender characteristics, gender balanced participation, and gender statistics for the Framework Act on Agriculture, Rural Area and Food Industry, Special Act on Improving the Quality of Life For Farmers and Fishermen and Rural Development, Act on the Promotion and Support of Agricultural and Fishery Management Companies, and sub-laws.

 

Ⅱ. Major Content 

▶ The system and main contents of the laws and regulations to be analyzed

○ Framework Act on Agriculture, Rural Area and Food Industry

- This Act presents basic concepts such as the definition of farmers, basic ideologies of agriculture and rural areas, basic directions of agricultural and food industry policies, fostering agricultural manpower, using and preserving farmland, and improving quality of life.

- Among them, the definition of farmers and regulations on fostering female farmers are the basis for discussion on improving the legal status of female farmers.

○ Special Act on Improving the Quality of Life and Rural Development

- This Act was enacted in 2004 to promote the welfare of farmers and fishermen, improve educational conditions in rural areas, and establish a comprehensive and systematic support system for the development of rural areas.

○ Act on the Promotion and Support of Agricultural and Fishery Management Companies

- This Act was enacted in 2009 with the aim of continuing development of farming and fishing villages and strengthening the competitiveness of farming and fishing businesses through registration and support of farming and fishing businesses as a unit of farming and fishing management. 

- In order for agricultural and fishing management to receive loans and subsidies related to farming and fishing, certain information must be registered, where agricultural and fishing workers are divided into "management owners" and "non-management farmers," and it is necessary to check if there are any discriminatory factors.

▶ Gender-sensitive analysis of the laws to be analyzed

○ Gender distinction or stereotypes

- It is to review whether there are gender classification provisions in the statute or whether gender stereotypes are reflected in legal terms, and to examine whether gender stereotypes are expressed in legal measures.

- In the Framework Act on the Agriculture, Rural Area and Food Industry, the gender classification regulation is Article 27 (fostering female farmers), which can be said to be a necessary measure to realize gender equality in agriculture and rural areas, but under this law, women who do not meet the criteria can be excluded from the policy.

- The "improvement of childcare conditions" stipulated in Article 18 (promotion of welfare for rural women) of the "Special Act on Improving the Quality of Life For Farmers and Fishermen and Rural Development" needs to be defined gender-neutral because childcare can be attributed to the stereotype of women's role and responsibility.

- The Act on the Promotion and Support of Agricultural and Fishery Management Companies does not currently have a gender classification clause, but the joint management system recognized for registration of agricultural and fishing management is actually a system for female farmers.

○ Gender characteristics

- Whether the laws and regulations take into account physical, social, and cultural differences according to gender, and if not, whether it is necessary to consider gender characteristics.

- The fostering of agricultural personnel stipulated in Chapter 3, Section 3 of the Framework Act on the Agriculture, Rural Area and Food Industry stipulates the management stability of family farmers and fostering agricultural workers, and it is necessary to include contents for gender equality in family farmers.

- In Article 14 of the Special Act on Improving the Quality of Life For Farmers and Fishermen and Rural Development, there may be differences in the working environment and induced diseases between men and women. Gender consideration is necessary when preparing treatment and support policies.

○ Gender-balanced participation

- It is to examine whether the statutes stipulate that gender should be considered in the committee regulations, and whether there is any adverse effect on specific sex in the qualification requirements for constituting the committee.

- The Central Agriculture, Rural Area and Food Industry Policy Council based on Article 15 of the Framework Act on Agriculture, Rural Area and Food Industry seems to meet the requirements of Article 21 of the Framework Act on Gender Equality, and it is necessary to consider institutional supplementation to ensure that gender is actually considered in the policy-making process.

- In the composition of producer organizations such as Nonghyup, the ratio of female union members and female executives is still low, so it is necessary to seek institutional support measures for this.

- Article 10 of the Special Act on Improving the Quality of Life For Farmers and Fishermen and Rural Development does not have separate gender consideration regulations, but meets the requirements of the Framework Act on Gender Equality. However, there are provisions for gender consideration in the composition of the Working Committee under Article 6 (2) of the Enforcement Decree of this Act, so it is necessary to review whether to reflect it in the law.

- The Committee regulations do not exist in the Act on the Promotion and Support of Agricultural and Fishery Management Companies.

○ Gender statistics

- It is reviewed whether or not gender is specified in the attached form or fact-finding survey regulations of the Act.

- In the Framework Act on Agriculture, Rural Area and Food Industry, there are regulations related to actual conditions and statistics in Article 55 (investigation and research of North Korea's agricultural production system, etc.), so it is necessary to stipulate statistical production according to gender.

- Article 8 of the "Special Act on Improving the Quality of Life For Farmers and Fishermen and Rural Development" does not provide a basis for gender statistics, even though it stipulates to investigate matters necessary for welfare promotion and regional development.

- The investigation into the operation status of agricultural corporations stipulated in Article 20-2 of the Agricultural and Fishery Management Act stipulates the personal information, address, investment status, business scope, farmland size, and cultivation status of members. Since the gender of the members is not defined here, there is no basis for gender statistics on the composition of agricultural corporations.

▶ Improvement tasks through gender-sensitive analysis of laws and regulations to be analyzed

○ Reviewing a concept of farmers from a gender-sensitive perspective

- The current definition of farmers does not cover various subjects engaged in agriculture, and the procedure for being identified as farmers is stipulated to rely on men who are still managers, so it is necessary to review the current definition of farmers and the issuance of farmers' certificates.

- Co-management is actually a system created for female farmers, but it is necessary to eliminate these discriminatory factors and clarify the legal status of co-management because co-management does not have the same status as managers and discriminatory consequences of losing farmers' qualifications.

○ Reflecting gender characteristics in the establishment and implementation of policies

- When establishing and implementing policies to stabilize the management of family farmers and foster agricultural workers, it is necessary to consider contents such as spreading a culture of gender equality in the family and improving the rational management of family farmers.

- Although it is necessary to reflect gender characteristics when establishing policies to support farmers' disease prevention and treatment, it is necessary to revise it to consider gender characteristics as it only stipulates that statistics based on gender are established when investigating the current disease status.

○ Improving the effectiveness of gender balance participation in policy decisions

- As a result of comprehensive examination of the committee regulations of the laws and regulations subject to analysis, it was found that the requirements of the Framework Act on Gender Equality were satisfied, even though the composition of commissioned members did not stipulate gender consideration.

- Although it is possible to consider ways to stipulate gender in individual committee regulations, it is necessary to seek institutional supplementary measures such as reviewing gender relevance and conducting gender recognition education for members so that gender can be actually considered in the committee's policy-making process.

○ Preparing the basis for the production of gender statistics

- It is necessary to clarify the basis for gender statistics production in cases where gender is stipulated or not in the actual conditions of laws and regulations to be analyzed, and furthermore, when preparing personal statistics in agriculture and rural areas, it can be considered.

 

Ⅲ. Expected Effects

○ By analyzing major laws and regulations in the agricultural and rural fields from a gender-sensitive perspective and deriving improvement measures, a gender-sensitive perspective is introduced when enacting or revising laws, and further contributes to enhancing gender equality in legislation.

○ It is expected to contribute to realizing gender equality and realizing sustainable agriculture and rural areas by establishing and promoting gender equality policies, improving the status and rights of female farmers, etc.