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Country Brief - DPR Korea |
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Food
Security: Overview
A series of natural disasters
beginning in 1995 coupled with an economic downturn over the last
decade have crippled DPR Korea's food security. A combination of
flood damage, severe deforestation and the silting of rivers as well
as the lack of agricultural inputs such as fertilisers and
pesticides and the poor state of agricultural equipment are
affecting the country's ability to produce food.
As a
result, the national agricultural base diminished drastically
throughout the 1990s. Annual production of rice and maize has fallen
from eight million metric tons in the 80s to 2.9 million in 2000.
Despite widespread food shortages, a 30 percent contraction
of the domestic economy (1991-96) means DPRK lacks the foreign
currency to close the food gap with imports. According to a report
by FAO, it is now estimated that 13.2 million people in DPR Korea
are malnourished.
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Risks to
Food
Security |
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late spring
droughts |
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summer flooding |
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occasional typhoons in early
autumn |
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deforestation and consequent
silting of rivers |
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economic downturn |
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lack of agricultural inputs
such as
fertilisers | |
| Brief
History |
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1994 - Severe
hailstorms |
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1995/96 - Floods destroy 16
percent of arable land |
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June-mid-August 1997 - drought
hits the fertile west coast |
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2000 - More droughtand serious
tropical storms in
August | | |
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WFP Activities
First called on for
assistance in 1995 after floods caused serious food shortages, WFP
is now the largest international aid organisation in DPR Korea.
Since 1995, WFP has distributed a total of 2 million metric
tons of food aid worth $500 million, and there is consensus that the
Programme's work has prevented wide-scale food shortages.
WFP's current operation reaches 7.6 million people - all
children under 17, pregnant and nursing mothers and the elderly.
Total requirements for 2001 are 810,010 metric tons of food at a
cost of US$306 million. A Special Operation requiring US$9.3 million
supports the programme by funding port operations, equipment for
local food production and items such as shovels and protective
clothing to improve the workplace for food for work workers.
As well as the immediate need to save lives, WFP supports
relief and recovery through a series of food-for-work projects.
Workers are paid with food aid to work on projects such as the
rehabilitation of farm land damaged by floods, the restoration of
sea dykes and river embankments, the building of irrigation ditches
in drought-prone areas and reforestation projects.
An
increasingly important part of the WFP programme is local food
production whereby WFP, in cooperation with UNICEF and the DPRK
government, produce five types of food - biscuits, corn soya blend,
rice milk blend, cereal milk blend and noodles - for distribution to
beneficiaries. The blended foods corn soya blend and cereal milk
blend are used for children in institutions such as nurseries while
the rice milk blend is for the supervised rehabilitation of
seriously malnourished children.
In addition, WFP has
renovated existing biscuit factories to produce enriched biscuits
for distribution as a snack for children during school hours. There
are now 11 local production facilities in 5 locations throughout the
DPRK. In 2001, with the introduction of enriched noodle production
for pregnant and nursing women, this number will increase to 16.
WFP monitors food both on its arrival in DPR Korea and at
distribution points. The Programme averages 300 monitoring visits
per month. These are based on a distribution planwhich stipulates
the receiving institution, the number of beneficiaries, the type of
commodity and the quantity to be received. Food aid is tracked from
arriving vessels or rail until its distribution to beneficiaries.
WFP currently has access to 163 counties out of 211. WFP
will not distribute food to counties where it is not allowed to
monitor food distribution.
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| Contact |
Rick Corsino
Country Director
Head Office:
Pyongyang
Address:
WFP c/o UNDP, 21 Munsudong,
Pyongyang, DPRK
Tel:+850+2+3817298
Fax:+850+2+3817639
Mail: WFP.Pyongyang@wfp.org
Sub-offices:
Chongjin Hamhung Sinuiju Wonsan
Hyesan | |
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