Yeongam County, Various Support Policies for Returning Farmers and Villagers 'Attract Attention'

【Financial News Yeongam=Hwang Taejong Reporter】Jeonnam Yeongam County is implementing various policies to support and encourage urban residents to return to farming and rural life, such as One Month Living, Ten Thousand Won House, Mother House, and Yeongam Seoul Farm.
 In particular, it focuses on reducing the burden of housing, which is one of the reasons urban residents hesitate to move to rural areas, by promoting programs that allow them to stay and settle.
 First, 'Yeongam Salrae? Yeongam Salrae!' is a stay-type settlement inducement program where urban residents stay in Yeongam for a month to experience rural life.
 This project, selected for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 'Experience Living in Two Regions' contest, allows participants to move into five households in Gunseo-myeon and communicate with village residents while experiencing rural life. Yeongam County has prepared participatory programs such as village resident meetings, helping hands, vegetable garden experience, local culture exploration, and talent donation for residents.
 'Jeonnam-style Ten Thousand Won Second House' is a housing support policy for those wishing to settle in Yeongam. It provides remodeled or modular houses from abandoned rural houses for a monthly rent of 10,000 won. Residents must plan to move to Yeongam from another region and are subject to a two-year mandatory residence condition.
 'Mother House' provides a settlement base for returning baby boomer generation by remodeling old houses. It allows for repairs of parents' or one's own single-family houses with 70% military expenses and 30% self-pay.
 Yeongam County is implementing the project not only to solve housing problems but also to improve village landscapes and regenerate abandoned houses to improve the overall residential environment of rural villages.
 'Yeongam Seoul Farm', operated as a Seoul citizen experience facility in Miam-myeon, is also popular. This farm serves as a base for urban-rural exchange by offering programs such as strawberry and fig harvesting and participating in local festivals for three days and two nights, expanding urban residents' understanding and interest in rural areas. Last year, about 400 Seoul citizens visited the farm to experience rural life.
 Yeongam County also supports returning farmers and villagers through projects such as providing settlement funds, operating houses for returning farmers, and creating villages for returning farmers and fishermen.
 Kim Seonmi, head of Yeongam County's Population and Youth Division, said, "We are conducting various housing projects and related programs to help urban residents decide to return to farming and rural life in Yeongam," adding, "We will continue policies that connect urban residents with Yeongam."

hwangtae@fnnews.com Hwang Taejong Reporter