본 연구에서는 2000년대 중반 이후 전국여성농민회총연합(전여농) 소속 여성농민들이 중심이 되어 전개하고 있는 "토종씨앗 지키기" 운동에 주목하였다. 특히 여성농민들의 체화된 농사지식이 어떠한 과정에서 "토종씨앗 지키기" 운동의 주요한 기제로 재해석되고 있는지를 중심으로 살펴보았다. 본 연구의 내용은 다음과 같다. 첫째, 1989년부터 독자적인 여성농민운동을 펼쳐온 전여농은 어려운 농업현실을 극복하고자 정부 정책에 대한 반대 운동을 적극 전개해왔다. 2000년대 이후 전여농은 GMO(genetically modified organism;유전자 변형 농산물)의 대안을 모색하는 과정에서 토종씨앗에 대한 가치를 새롭게 발견하였다. 이에 각 지역의 여성농민회를 중심으로 "토종씨앗 지키기" 운동이 전개되기 시작했다. 둘째, "토종씨앗 지키기" 운동은 전여농 외에도 여러 대안농업단체에서 관행 농업의 문제를 극복하기 위한 소농운동의 일환으로 전개되고 있다. 이와 달리 전여농은 토종씨앗을 얻고, 지식과 기술을 배우기 위해 지역의 토착여성농민들과 연대를 모색하는 특징을 보이고 있다. 전여농 소속 귀농여성농민들은 활동전개 과정에서 씨앗 파종, 재배, 채종 기술의 부족으로 토종씨앗농사를 짓는데 어려움을 겪었다. 토종씨앗농사는 통합적인 기술과 지식을 요하고, 유기농법으로 지어야 하기 때문에 여성들에게 더 많은 노동력 투여를 요구한다. 더욱이 기존 다수확 품종과 달리 토종 작물은 소량으로 생산되며, 생소하고, 크기가 작으며, 표준화되지 않아 판로를 개척하는 것도 어려웠다. 셋째, 여성농민들은 "토종씨앗 지키기" 운동을 여성농민 중심의 대안농업운동으로 확장하고자 노력하고 있다. 대표적인 시도로는 소규모 텃밭에서 생산한 제철 농산물을 도시 소비자에게 직거래로 판매하는 것이다. 이렇듯 여성농민들은 "토종씨앗 지키기" 운동을 통해 자생력있는 생산자의 주체성을 모색하고 와해되어 왔던 공동체 문화를 지닌 지식으로 여성농민의 토착지식을 재의미화하는 실천을 하고 있다.
This study deals with peasant women`s positions and contributions which have been rarely appreciated in the process of industrialization of Korea from an agricultural society. It, in particular, focuses on women`s knowledge and how it has been regarded under the condition of subsistence production mode which largely relied on their knowledge. The existing studies about peasant women, nevertheless, have placed heavy weight on understanding women`s roles and activities to improve their status. The indigenous knowledge of peasant women which has been treated as useless in the process of modernization is reconsidered in-depth as an alternative knowledge inevitable for sustainable development, but rarely discussed in Korea. In this context, this study examines indigenous seed preservation movement led by female activists who have returned to agricultural community during the last decade belonging to Korean Women Peasants` Association. In particular, it examines primarily on how peasant women`s knowledge, which had been looked down on was reinterpreted into the main mechanism of the movements by these female activists as one of the major points of their movement. The findings of this study are; firstly, the peasant women aged over sixties have maintained their subsistence production based on small plot farming amidst of rapid social changes and transformation of agricultural system. Their knowledge patterns feature a holistic tendency which includes all parts of living such as clothing, housing, and feeding. Also they are acquired through the hands-on experiences stemming from the agricultural community culture. Besides, these knowledge focuses on natural cycles, a primary feature of the agriculture in the past. It is observed that traditional seed preservation activities are usually assigned to peasant women, which display a sexually-segregated agricultural labor. Secondly, female agricultural activists who belong to KWPA returned to agricultural community because of various reasons continuously struggled to overcome the harsh reality of agriculture. The indigenous seed movement of KWPA provided a new insight in searching for an alternative to GMO cultivation. This movement was also developed as a part of the peasant movement which tried to solve the problem coming from environment-friendly organic agriculture by other movement groups working for alternative agriculture. However the female agricultural activists experienced difficulties in carrying out their indigenous seed farming because of a lack of skills in sowing, cultivating, and seed-gathering. In addition, the features of indigenous seed agriculture, which is primarily accomplished by the female`s labor force, put more burden on women`s already heavy work load. They also experienced difficulties in obtaining financial gains because capitalist agricultural markets give little value to indigenous products. Thirdly, despite of all, the female activists are working together with female peasants to develop the indigenous seed preservation movement as an alternative measure centered by peasant women. However, stressing on the indigenous knowledge of peasant women doesn`t mean that we should go back to the past and all kinds of indigenous knowledge are important. In order to disentangle the problem produced by capitalistic agriculture, it is important to have a long-term perspective. In this sense, this paper aims to view the women`s indigenous knowledge as what has a potential to improve the women as subsistence agricultural producers and to recover the almost destroyed agricultural collective community. At the same time, this study aims to value the agricultural knowledge as future-oriented form of knowledge.
