VILLAGERS and government officials have been learning about rural development in South Korea – and are now back to put into practice what they have learned.
The trip was organised by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for residents of Hlegu township in Yangon Division, who have been learning about infrastructure building and repairing roads, said KOICA representative Ms Jin-Hwa Kim.
Twenty people, including villagers and staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, attended the study in South Korea between October 25 and November 7.
“The participants include 15 participants from the Ministry and five villagers from Kha Yaung, Sa Khang Gyi and Kyauk Kha Din villages,” Ms Kim told The Myanmar Times last week.
Ka Yaung, the poorest of the villages, is barely accessible even in the dry season because of its remote location and poor roads.
“We chose these villages because they are at different levels of development. Some are very poor and some are in fair condition,” said U Maung Maung Ye, general manager of the Myanmar Agriculture Service, which is part of the ministry.
In his address to the villagers before they left for Korea, the Korean ambassador to Myanmar, Mr Key-Chong Park, told them: “I would like you to try to increase your income from three to five times what it is now.”
The program includes information on building community halls, bridges and roads, supporting livelihoods, accessing micro-credit, setting up telecommunications and providing electricity.
The three villages comprise about 900 households with about 4000 people. Of the three, Kyauk Kha Din has the highest standard of living and Kha Yaung, which is far from the road, the lowest.
“I went to Pyin Oo Lwin training school in September. We learned how to make fertiliser from waste. We will share the knowledge with the other villages,” said U Myint Ohn, 53, a villager of Sa Khang Gyi.
“We look forward to using the technology to become more effective [at generating income],” said U Thet Naing, 36, who is from Ka Yaung.
