AsianScientist (Nov. 28, 2011) – A new report released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) has revealed concerns over the nutrition situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), particularly among young children.
The report was prepared by the Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM), which visited 29 counties in all nine agricultural provinces over a ten-day period. As a first, mission members were allowed to visit provincial and county markets, as well as state shops.
Due to high international food and fuel prices, accumulating negative annual trade balances, and insufficient bilateral and humanitarian food assistance, nearly 3 million people in the DPRK will continue to require food assistance in 2012.
While harvests are expected to increase by about 8.5 percent over last year, the country will still have a cereal deficit of 414,000 tons.
During the visit, hospital staff told mission members of a significant increase in malnutrition among young children, with the number of cases of malnutrition doubling from 2010.
Food distributions through the Public Distribution System were reported to be 200 grams per person per day, for five months of 2011 – about one third of the minimum daily energy requirement.
Coping strategies included sourcing supplies from relatives living in rural areas, the collection of wild foods, and using local informal market mechanisms. In some cases, factories assisted their workers by organizing expeditions into mountains or by directly distributing purchased food.
Recommendations for the DPRK
In the immediate term, the report recommends the provision of wheat, barley, and potato seeds for planting this winter and in the spring of 2012, and the delivery of plastic sheeting to protect seedbeds through April-June.
Over the long term, it recommends that the DPRK adopt conservation agriculture methods – which is based on minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotations – together with appropriate mechanization.
“Paddy yields at 4.3 tons per hectare in DPRK are about 60 percent of those in neighbouring South Korea,” said Kisan Gunjal, FAO economist and co-leader of the mission.
“This productivity gap represents a potential for the North to increase its farm output and eliminate chronic food shortages by adopting appropriate technology, inputs and measures.”
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Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization; Photo: Curt Carnemark/World Bank.
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