By Kim Young-jin
Some 5 million North Koreans will face food shortages this year as the impoverished country continues to struggle with a lack of staple grains, the U.N. reported Tuesday.
The North needs to import 867,000 tons of cereal in 2011 to feed its people, but only plans to bring in some 325,000 tons, a joint report issued by the World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization said.
The report came after the agencies visited the North in September to check in with their aid programs there and assess need.
Based on the findings, the agencies called for the provision of 305,000 tons of international food aid to make up for the shortfall.
After visiting facilities in seven provinces, the mission reported that food warehouses contained no cereal stocks and that maize intended for October distribution had “excessive moisture content and contaminants.”
Cereal production in the North has been hampered this year by the extreme summer rainfall, which caused severe flooding and ruined crops.
Still, the country improved its annual staple crop production by three percent, due to increased availability of fertilizer and pesticide as well as farming equipment, the report said.
The WFP has in recent months been appealing to the international community to support the agency’s North Korea program, which it says is currently funded to serve less than half of its target population.