North Korean Economy Watch

According to Yonhap:

Eight out of every 10 North Korean families are suffering malnutrition with little access to protein foods, a U.S. media report said Tuesday.

In its survey of 87 North Korean families from January to March, the World Food Program (WFP) found that 80 percent of them were undernourished mainly due to a lack of protein intake, the Washington-based Voice of America (VOA) said.

About 38 percent of those surveyed were not able to eat high-protein foods during the one week before the survey, such as meat, fish, eggs or beans, said the report, monitored in Seoul.

Quoting the WFP report, the VOA said the North Korean families, on average, eat meat 1.3 days a week or beans 1.2 days per week.

The report also said about 14 percent of the 86 hospitalized North Korean children under age 5 whom its aid workers visited during the January-March period were in serious malnutrition conditions.

Meanwhile, AmeriCares, a U.S. non-profit aid group, is about to send 10.5 tons of drugs in humanitarian assistance to the North this week, another U.S. media report said.

The aid package, which includes antibiotics, stomach medicines and dermatology drugs, will be shipped later this week to six hospitals in Pyongyang and other areas, the Washington-based Radio Free Asia reported. The shipment will also include personal hygiene items like toothbrushes and soaps, it said.

The RFA said the latest aid has no political consideration and is solely for humanitarian purposes.

AmeriCares began its aid to the North in 1997 as the first American private group to do so. Last year, it sent US$7 million worth of medicine for flood victims in the impoverished country.

Read the full story here:
Eight out of 10 N. Korean families undernourished: report
Yonhap
2013-5-7

According to the AFP (Gulf Times):

The UN Children’s Fund (Unicef), World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said they were feeling fallout from North Korea’s isolation.

“Even though the imposed sanctions clearly exclude humanitarian assistance, a negative impact on the levels of humanitarian funding has been experienced,” the agencies said in a statement.

The agencies said they had received just over a quarter of the $147mn they needed for operations in the North this year.

“As a result of the persisting deficit, agencies are unable to respond effectively to the humanitarian needs out of which the most critical and life-saving ones urgently require $29.4mn,” they added.

“The dire funding situation leaves the UN agencies and other humanitarian actors concerned about the continuation of their programmes” in isolated North Korea.

The agencies said there had been “a slight improvement” in the humanitarian situation in the past year. But Unicef said it was running short of cash for basic vaccines and medicines for child killers such as pneumonia and diarrhoea.

The UN estimates that about one-third of North Korean children under five are chronically malnourished.

More analysis in the Washington Post.

Read the full story here:
Aid to North Korea hit by sanctions
AFP
2013-4-29

According to Relief Web:

On 9 October 2012, H.E. Alexander A. Timonin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to DPRK, visited Pyongyang Biscuit Factory to formally hand over a generous donation of Russian wheat flour to WFP’s work in the country.

The donation of 6,000 metric tons of wheat flour is valued at US$5 million. Wheat flour is an essential ingredient in the production of nutritious biscuits that are distributed to well over a million children in nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools, as part of WFP’s project to address chronic undernutrition in DPRK.

Wheat flour is also used in DPR Korea to produce Supercereal – a specialised nutritious blended food – for pregnant and nursing mothers.

During the ceremony, Ambassador Timonin confirmed Russia’s engagement in assisting the most vulnerable in DPRK through its contribution to the work of WFP.

“We are very interested in the activities of WFP in DPRK and are very satisfied with its production of fortified food for children and mothers with the wheat flour donated by Russia,” he said. “The Russian Federation will continue to provide humanitarian contributions to WFP, supporting it`s activities in DPRK.”

Previous posts about aid to the DPRK in 2012 can be found here.

Previous posts about Russia can be found here.

An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) visited the DPRK from 2012-9-24 to 2012-10-18 (25 days). They assessed the 2012 main crop harvest; forecasted the 2013 production of winter and spring crop; estimated cereal import requirements for the 2012/13 marketing year (November/October); assessed the household food-security situation and estimated food assistance needs.

Read the full report here (PDF).

It is full of data/statistics and well worth reading. You can find even more information on my DPRK Economic Statistics Page.

Here is media coverage of the report: Associated Press 1, Associated Press 2, Yonhap 1, Yonhap 2.

Pictured above: UN World Food Program map of affected areas.

According to the World Food Program web page:

WFP is sending a first batch of emergency food aid to flood-hit areas in the south of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) where torrential rains have left 88 people dead and over 60,000 people homeless.

The emergency food assistance will provide the flood victims with an initial ration of 400g of maize per day for 14 days.

Storms and heavy rain across the country between 18 and 29 July have caused widespread flooding, and in some places severe damage to homes, infrastructure and farmland. The most affected counties are Anju City and Songchon in South Pyongan Province, and Chonnae in Kangwon province.

A UN mission recently which recently travelled to flood-affected regions found considerable damage to maize, soybean and rice-fields damage (Read report). WFP continues to monitor the situation.

A comprehensive assessment of the food situation and of prospects for food production is scheduled for September.

The New York Times also reported on this story.

UPDATE 1 (2012-8-6): Vietnam is donating food to the DPRK.

UPDATE 2 (2012-8-7): The Red Cross is distributing aid in the DPRK.

UPDATE 3 (2012-8-8): The UN has created a portal through which all of the UN agencies are posting information. See it here. See here information on “Who is doing what”.

UPDATE 4 (2012-8-10): China donates US$1 in assistance to the DPRK.

According to the Daily NK:

World Food Programme reports during the month of July, North Koreans received only half the amount of recommended food, rations have been reduced down to half what they should be 300 grams per day.

Between drought and flood damage, crops have suffered and the distribution system is failing to meet the needs of the people.

Due to unrelenting poor weather condition this past July, North Korean food rations per person, already at the minimum recommended amount, were cut in half.

United Nations affiliated organization, the World Food Programme (WFP) recorded that from July 1st until the 15th, food distribution in North Korea was 370 grams per person per day, but during the second half of the month rations were reduced to a mere 300 grams, revealed a Voice of America broadcast two days ago. The World Food Programme puts the recommended amount of food per day at 600 grams minimum.

According to a North Korean based-WFP local official, rations consist of 20-30% rice and 70-80% corn. During the summer, barley, potatoes, wheat and other crops are included in the distribution.

From January until March, rations were maintained at 395 grams per person, and in April they were increased to 400 grams. In May, rations were reverted back to 395 grams and June again saw a slump, down to 380 grams per person.

The WFP attributes the decline in rations to various natural disasters, such as drought and flooding have led to extensive damage of cropland across North Korea.

The WFP estimates these ration shortages will continue to be severe until harvest time arrives in November.

The flip side of this story is that North Koreans obtain the majority of their food from private and black markets.

The Daily NK tracks rice prices in the DPRK here.

Read the full story here:
WFP Reports July Rations Cut in Half at NK
Daily NK
Kim Tae-hong
2012-8-2

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2012-6-22

China began to provide large-scale food assistance to North Korea from late February, reported KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency) in its recent report.

The Korea Business Center (KBC) in Canton, KOTRA’s overseas branch, released a report about the details of China’s food assistance to North Korea. “China is the largest supplier of material goods to North Korea but even the major North Korean experts in China do not have the exact figures of aid provided to North Korea.” Based on the information gained from local media and interviews with experts, “North Korea requested food assistance of at least 200,000 tons, as well as assistance in construction materials. The amount is estimated at more than 600 million yuan RMB.”

According to Chian Grain Reserves Corporation and Dalian Commodity Exchange, 6,600 million yuan RMB is equivalent to 150,000 tons of rice or 26.5 million tons of corn, calculated with the wholesale price in the Northeast China region. 600 million yuan RMB of rice exported to Shinuiju from Dandong can purchase about 17.1 million tons of rice.

Old rice and flour is being gathered in Dandong from all over China, and is being sold to North Korea at a very low cost without ever entering the Chinese domestic market. The KBC report evaluates that this is a welcomed change because North Koreans are not selective about their food, since they do not have enough money to buy food. It reports, “Cheap food is considered the best food,” and “North Korean customs automatically allows the food to enter the country and small amounts of a few tons of food is not even tariffed,” said an unnamed North Korean trader.

China’s recent food aid to North Korea was conducted largely in two ways: First, it was provided quietly without the public being notified; second, it went via the World Food Programme (WFP) and other international organizations. According to the WFP China Office, the recent 600 million yuan food aid to North Korea was not related to WFP aid to North Korea.

China is careful about releasing information related to its food aid to North Korea. However, what is known is that the aid consists of selling food at a low-cost and through nongovernmental exchanges. There are several trading companies in Dandong that ships food and other materials to North Korea when charitable organizations in Beijing make the request for shipment.

On the other hand, the May 24 (2010) Measures (of South Korea) has suspended all trade between North and South Korea. This has propelled North Korea-China trade to expand and the trade volume between the two nations increased 32 percent or 1.9 billion USD from January to April, compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the Korea International Trade Association.

During this period, North Korea’s export to China recorded 793 million USD, which also jumped 33 percent against last year and the revenues from import also increased 32.8 percent equalling 1.16 billion USD.

According to Bloomberg:

The agency bought $2.12 million of wheat from Glencore Grain BV for delivery to North Korea, the Rome-based WFP wrote in notifications on its website today.

Read the full story here:
WFP Buys Sugar For Syria And Wheat From Glencore For North Korea
Bloomberg
Rudy Ruitenberg
2012-5-25

According to the Daily NK:

The World Food Programme (WFP) has revealed that food distribution by the North Korean authorities in April, the month of Kim Il Sung’s centennial birthday, was on the same scale as in the month before.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA) yesterday, WFP believes that food distribution to the North Korean people this past April was 400g per day, which is 66% of the 600g per day recommended intake.

Nana Skau, the WFP’s North Korea spokesperson explained, “The food distributed by the North Korean authorities was a mix of rice and corn, and depending on the region the mix was either at 2:8 or 3:7.”

She went on, “In April there were many celebrations including Kim Il Sung’s 100th birthday so a lot of public institutions were either closed or distribution from them went down. The reason why our 83 cases of food distribution in 22 counties was one third of the previous month’s total of 220 cases in 59 counties was also because there were many public holidays.”

Meanwhile, WFP has revealed that aid is still entering the country, announcing that “In April 98.5 tons of food arrived in North Korea and in May 2,700 tons of mostly beans and powdered milk is expected to be sent there.”

Read the full story here:
Food Distribution Unmoved by April
Daily NK
Hwang Chang Hyun
2012-05-08

UPDATE 1 (2012-2-24): The Choson Ilbo reports that the UN WFP is not extending its DPRK mission. According to the article:

The World Food Programme plans to end its emergency aid mission to North Korea in March as originally scheduled.

Citing officials from the WFP, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday that its emergency operation for the most vulnerable groups in the North, including children, pregnant women and the elderly, will end next month.

The organization said once the emergency program is over it will switch back to its smaller-scale assistance program, which provides food to roughly 3.5 million women and children in need of immediate nutritional support.

Meanwhile, the report added that the UN-affiliated organization had only raised about 30 percent of the funds needed to support North Koreans as of Wednesday.

ORIGINAL POST (2012-2-22): According to the Korea Herald:

The U.N. World Food Programme is planning to extend its Emergency Aid mission to North Korea beyond the original deadline of March.

The Emergency Operation, which started in April, aimed to address a dangerous and worsening food crisis in North Korea. It focused on the most vulnerable groups, women and children, of which there were 3.5 million in need of immediate support to prevent starvation.

The WFP has been able to work with North Korea in carrying out the operation, under very stringent rules.

Although the WFP has experienced some successes, a difficult 2011 has meant that the mission was unable to fully address the growing crisis, and an extension of the emergency operation is needed.

“We are currently finalizing plans for the operation beyond this point, but it will certainly continue to focus on the provision of nutritional assistance to the most vulnerable women and children,” WFP Asia spokesman Marcus Prior said.

Despite making progress in the latter stages of 2011, the WFP was unable to fulfill the goals of the original mission.

“Because of relatively slow funding at the outset, and the time taken to purchase and ship the food to the DPRK, distributions were at a very low level through the lean season months of May to August,” Prior said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

“At one point in the middle of 2011, production of specialized nutritious foods at factories supported by WFP came to an almost complete standstill,” said Prior. WFP documents say that during that time “much of the population of DPRK suffered prolonged food deprivation.”

The WFP says there is a “chronic gap” between the daily nutrients needed and the nutrients North Koreans have access to, with the situation more crucial for women and children.

Recent studies have shown that malnutrition in the first 1,000 days from conception can have permanent consequences for both physiological and intellectual development.

With a recent U.N. estimate that one-third of North Korea’s children under 5 are malnourished, the continuing crisis could have catastrophic implications on their future and not just their immediate food needs.

The WFP also reported through interviews with health officials that there was a 50 to 100 percent increase in the admissions of malnourished children into pediatric wards compared to last year.

The latest WFP DPRK report has called for more international aid that will be needed for the continued efforts, as the food from the original mission begins to reach its limits.

“We continue to have supplies available to see us through the next three to four months, but will require significant new funding to ensure these distributions can continue through the later, most difficult, lean season months of this year.”

Although the WFP does not collect data on the death toll caused by the 2011 food shortage, the latest report did say that another year of the same prolonged food deprivation will have a serious impact on the North Korean population.

My compendium of DPRK food stories in 2011 is here.

Read the full story here:
WFP to extend emergency mission to North Korea
Korea Herald
Hamish Macdonald
2012-2-22