Agri-expo Korea 2024: Korea Redesigns Agriculture and Rural Areas into Future-oriented Industry

Sejong, 3 September 2024 — On 3 September, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) said that it will hold Agri-expo Korea 2024, the largest agricultural exposition, at aT Centre in Seoul from 5 to 8 September 2024.

With the year 2024 marking the 6th anniversary of the agricultural exposition, the MAFRA has been holding the event every year since 2019 to promote a wide range of value and growth potential of agriculture and rural areas. Last year’s agricultural exposition drew much attention, with the number of visitors reaching approximately 94,000. 

At this year’s exposition to be held under the main theme of “See the Value and Dream of Agriculture,” four agricultural spaces—(a) the space for agriculture and life, (b) the space for challenges faced by agriculture and the future, (c) the space for diverse charms of agriculture, and (d) the space for agricultural areas being revitalized—will provide opportunities for visitors to see various exhibits and participate in programmes for hands-on experience. 

Specifically, the space for agriculture and life gives an overview of agriculture’s functions and roles for people as well as agriculture’s history and culture. The space for challenges faced by agriculture and the future sheds light on agriculture as an industry for future growth (e.g. smart farms, food-tech, AgTech, the companion animal industry, etc.). The space for diverse charms of agriculture helps experience agriculture’s diverse aspects (e.g. the agricultural product of the year, agricultural start-ups for young people, K-food, returning to rural areas, etc.). The space for agricultural areas being revitalized provides information on rural placemaking plans for making agriculture and rural areas vigorous and sustainable.

* Food-tech, a merger of food and technology, refers to a new industry of applying cutting-edge technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), biotechnology, etc.) to the entire value chain covering all the business processes, including production, manufacturing, distribution, and delivery, with regard to food products. Instances of food-tech include a cooking robot, a food-serving robot, a food delivery robot, fake meat, etc.

Importantly, with a sub-theme of “Design the Space of Agricultural Areas,” this year’s agricultural exposition features a pavilion of seven special rural zoning districts: (1) a rural residential protection district, (2) a rural industrial district, (3) a livestock farming district, (4) a rural cross-sectoral convergence district, (5) a renewable energy district, (6) a scenic agriculture district, and (7) an agricultural heritage protection district. The special pavilion will provide visitors with a graphic description of rural areas being transformed into a new space for living, working, and relaxing. 

Also, starting from this year, a pavilion for the agricultural product of the year will be set up at the exposition. The pavilion provides information on the representative agricultural product of the year, such as history, recipes, industrial use, and related food products. This year’s pavilion is the K-Kong Festa for beans, where visitors can learn about beans, taste bean-based food products, and participate in a programme for developing healthy eating habits.  

At the New Ag Wave conference, the main side event, there will be in-depth discussions on responding to declining rural areas as well as creating jobs for young people. Yasushi Fujita, President and CEO of MEDIA DO, Japan’s biggest ebook distributor, who will participate as a panelist in the conference, will share a story of Japan’s rural village of 1,000 population having overcome its collapse.

Meanwhile, with a couple weeks left before Chuseok holidays, an outdoor market for selling Korean agricultural products at a discounted price of up to 50 percent off will open in front of the exhibition hall. This is expected to ease consumers’ financial burdens of purchasing goods for the national holidays and gifts.