농업과학기술 혁신체계의 진화와 선택

From the Second World War, the Netherlands has completely reorganized its agricultural structure from being led by small holder farmers to elite farmers. With the increased purchasing power and enhanced innovation capacity of the farmers, privatization of agricultural extension services and the agricultural research activities was promoted. The elite farmers, extension and research institutes have established the EER (Education-Extension-Research) triptych, which can be characterized as farm-oriented, export-centered and farmer-led. The order of agricultural restructuring and privatization of the extension services and research institutes is noteworthy. The transformation of the farmers capacity and competitiveness preceded the privatization and contributed to its success. In the past century, Japan has frequently restructured agricultural STI system based on the agricultural changes and its governance. What stands out is the attempt to privatize NARO（National Agriculture and Food Research Organization) in the early 2000s. Unlike the case of the Netherlands, Japan experienced more adverse effects than merits from privatization eventually reversing NARO’s status as a public institute in 2014. This may be due to the fact that the privatization of research institute took precedence over the farmers being prepared in terms of competitiveness, purchasing power, and innovation capacity. Such untimely policy decision exposed a myriad of unforeseen limitations. Nevertheless, it was not a complete return to its shape and forms prior to 2000 but a limited reversal based on re-recognition of publicness of agriculture and NARO’s identity as a public entity. Due to the stark differences, it is difficult to directly compare the agricultural structure of the US and that of the Netherlands, Japan and Korea to draw implications. Yet, in the past century, the US also has had frequent transformations of agricultural STI system and the transformation is an on-going process. The changes to note include that after 2010s, a greater focus has been placed on promoting and strengthening the agricultural technology commercialization. Additionally, the opinions of the agricultural experts are reflected in the decision making process of agriculture-related budget allocation. Moreover, there is a growing recognition of public value of agriculture. Agriculture varies widely around the world. Even within the same country, agriculture varies depending on time. In other words, the current shape and form of another country’s agriculture cannot provide the way forward for Korean agriculture. The lessons should be derived from the past experiences of other countries and the agricultural philosophy that lie behind the policy decisions and their results.