According to Yonhap:
North Korea’s food ration dropped to its lowest level in four months in May, a U.S. radio report said Tuesday, in what could be the latest sign of chronic food shortages.
North Korea doled out 410 grams of food for each person per day in May, compared with 420 grams on average in February, the Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) said, citing the U.N. World Food Programme.
The North’s daily food ration is lower than the WFP’s minimum recommended amount of 600 grams and the North Korean regime’s target amount of 573 grams, the radio said.
North Korea reports information on its food distribution to the United Nations every month to receive international food assistance.
North Korea said it distributed food to 16 million out of 24 million people, though it could not be verified how many North Koreans receive the food ration through the public distribution system, the radio said.
In May, Ertharin Cousin, the executive director of the WFP, said her agency’s nutrition program for North Korean children and pregnant women stands at a “very crucial juncture” due to a lack of funding.
She said that the U.N. food agency has received only 20 percent of the funding required to implement the program, which is “critically underfunded.”
The WFP’s humanitarian aid to North Korea reached US$26.56 million last year, compared to $86.94 million in 2012, according to the U.N. food agency.
The North has relied on international handouts since the late 1990s, when it suffered a widespread famine that was estimated to have killed 2 million people.
Voice of America also reports on this.
Here are previous posts on the DPRK’s food (2013, 2014) and agriculture situations.
Read the full story here:
N. Korea’s food ration hits lowest level in 4 months
Yonhap
2014-6-3
