The K-Ricebelt Project Promotes the Entry of Korean Agricultural Input Products into the African Market

Sejong, 30 December 2024 — On 18 December 2024, FD Five, a Korean company of producing agricultural input products, signed a contract valued at approximately USD 340,000 on the export of eco-friendly fertilizers and biopesticides with NASA NKZ and FABDONKO, companies from the Republic of Ghana. Both sides also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for joint building of a production facility for agricultural input products in Ghana as well as for production and sale of such products in the country. 

This outcome has been produced amid the ongoing efforts that the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) has been making to carry out the K-Ricebelt project and to expand the policy focused on the promotion of the export of Korean agricultural input products. Since 2023, the MAFRA has been producing and supplying high-yield rice seeds through the K-Ricebelt project in seven African countries, including Ghana. Also, in connection with the project, the MAFRA has been conducting a survey on the current status of the African market for agricultural input products as well as on the export systems and regulation of African countries to help Korean fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural equipment, and other products enter the African market. The MAFRA has also been carrying out the project of building a demonstration farm in Africa to promote Korean agricultural input products to the region.

The K-Ricebelt project is an official development assistance (ODA) project aimed to supply farmers with approximately 10,000 tonnes of rice seeds that can produce an annual rice yield for a population of 30 million in Africa. With the high-yield rice seeds to be supplied to farmers in Africa, the demand for Korean fertilizers, pesticides, and other agricultural input products in the regional market is forecast to increase. Accordingly, the K-Ricebelt project is expected to play a role as a path through which Korean agricultural input products enter the African market.