OneWorld.net (U.S.)

WASHINGTON, Jul 7 (OneWorld.net) - Due to a lack of funds, the United Nations is cutting back an emergency food aid program in North Korea, where an estimated 9 million people may go hungry due to cereal shortages this year.

A farmer in North Korea, where low agricultural yields contribute to a national food crisis. Much of North Korea's population depends on food aid. © Food First / Institute for Food and Development PolicyWhat's the Story?

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has only received $75 million in funding so far, and over six times that amount -- $504 million -- is needed for the organization to run operations as planned.

Due to the deficit, the agency will only provide food aid to 57 of the 131 countries expecting assistance, said spokesperson Lena Savelli. North Korea is one of the nations where operations will be scaled down.

However, almost 9 million people in North Korea could go hungry this year due to a shortage in cereals, warned a joint report from WFP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The loss of food aid could further exacerbate the food crisis in North Korea. (See the full story from the UN News Center below.)

An Ongoing Food Crisis in North Korea

In December 2008, the United Nations estimated that 40 percent of North Korea's population would need urgent food aid in the following months due to cereal shortages.

"The prospects for next year [2009] are bleak, with a substantial deficit of basic foods that will only partly be covered by commercial imports and anticipated food aid," said top FAO official Henri Josserand.

The joint report from FAO and WFP found that in North Korea "agricultural production will fall short of what is needed this year because of critical shortages of fertilizer and fuel." The agencies predicted a cereal deficit of over 800,000 tons.

North Korea is continuously plagued by low agricultural productivity. Harvest failures in the 1990s resulted in a famine that claimed up to 2 million lives. Average harvests of rice and maize often fall short of basic needs by 15 to 20 percent. A long-term drop in soil fertility, lack of investment, and extreme weather all drive this problem. "The current agricultural production model and farming techniques are not sustainable," said Josserand.

In 2007, WFP warned that "having enough to eat is still a daily struggle for one-third to one-half of all North Koreans."

In addition to food assistance from China, South Korea, and WFP, most North Koreans rely on the government's notoriously inefficient food distribution program, which is supposed to ensure fairness through defined rations but instead tends to favor elitist groups at the expense of others. For more background on the food crisis, development, and the economy in North Korea, see OneWorld's North Korea country guide.

North Korean Policies Affecting Aid

Desperately needed food aid in North Korea is often obstructed by government policies. For a period in 2005 and 2006, the country refused all food aid in deference to the dogma of self-reliance and in denial of a WFP survey that found that 37 percent of North Korean children suffered stunted growth while a third of all mothers were malnourished and anaemic.

Moreover, North Korea's increasingly belligerent record on nuclear weapons and other arms has undermined international cooperation with the country. Under a 2005 agreement, North Korea promised to halt its nuclear program in exchange for a pledge from the United States that it would not attack or invade North Korea. This April, however, the country withdrew from anti-proliferation talks with the United States, China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea and resumed operations in its nuclear facilities.

In late May, North Korea conducted another nuclear test in violation of international accords. Despite worldwide condemnation and sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, North Korea also fired ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan this weekend in an apparent "act of defiance" on the U.S. Independence Day holiday, reported Agence France Presse (AFP).

Peace Advocates Push for Dialogue 

"North Korea's nuclear test is pushing it deeper into isolation from the international community," wrote David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. "The tests may play well at home, but not on the world stage."

Nonetheless, continued Krieger, the "United States and other members of the United Nations Security Council, which are so strong in their condemnation of North Korea's nuclear testing, are not doing enough to resolve important security issues with North Korea by diplomacy, the only sensible solution. Nor are the permanent members of the Security Council setting the right example by adhering to their own obligations under international law for 'good faith' negotiations for total nuclear disarmament." 

Similarly, foreign policy and Koreas expert John Feffer emphasized the importance of dialogue and a less aggressive U.S. policy toward North Korea: "The Obama administration -- and the international community -- is understandably appalled at North Korea's actions. Condemning, sanctioning, and cordoning off the country might be all satisfying and politically expedient tactics. But these responses have not proven effective in the past," advised John Feffer of the Institute for Policy Studies. "To achieve a viable agreement with North Korea, we must negotiate in good faith."

The UN Security Council held a meeting Monday to discuss the missile launch and consider tougher sanctions, noted Reuters, but the outcome of the talks have yet to be publicized. 

This article was compiled by Brittany Schell.

____________________________

Lack of Funding Forces UN Food Agency to Downsize Work in DPR Korea

From: The UN News Center

7/1/09

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it is being forced to scale back its emergency operation to reach six million hungry and vulnerable people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) due to a severe lack of funding.

At a press briefing in the Chinese capital, Beijing, today, the agency said that of the $504 million needed for the programme, only $75 million has been received so far.

Amir Abdulla, WFP Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, said that the agency is currently reviewing the terms and conditions under which the scheme is providing food to the hungry.

"We need to make sure that any terms agreed to do not compromise our accountability," he said.

WFP's spokesperson in DPRK, Lena Savelli, told UN Radio today that the agency will target its work in only 57 counties out of the 131 where it had originally planned to provide food aid.

"This will bring down the planned number of beneficiaries from 6.2 to 2.27 million," she said, adding that at current levels, WFP has the resources needed to continue this level of operations until October or November.

A joint report by WFP and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) released last December estimated that nearly nine million people could be hungry due to a shortage in cereals in the DPRK in 2009.

Even with commercial imports, DPRK will face a cereal deficit of over 800,000 tons, according to the FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission, the first such comprehensive mission conducted since 2004.

OneWorld TV: North Korea's Nuclear Fallout

OneWorld.net: Latest News, Groups Working on North Korea and Food Worldwide