The Potential Role of African Ethics in the K-Ricebelt Project based on the Impact of Traditional Confucian Ethics in Korea’s Saemaul Undong Movement

Inspired by the rapid success and development during the Korean Green Revolution, the K-Ricebelt Project, led by South Korea is a promising collaborative effort for agricultural modernization, increased food production, and economic self-sufficiency in African countries (Senegal, Gambia, Ghana, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya and Guinea) by implementing high-yielding and climate-resilient rice strains. This paper examines how the Confucian ethics and philosophy formed a prominent role in the success of the Saemaul Undong (‘New Village’) Movement, a key part in the Korean Green Revolution. The paper then surveys ideas and concepts in traditional African ethics and philosophy—particularly holism, animism, and ‘life-force’—to discuss the potential for its incorporation into agricultural practice to ensure the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of the K-Ricebelt Project’s bottom-up model.