The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) continues to face regular, significant food shortages. WFP has been providing food assistance in DPRK since 1995, saving lives and making significant inroads into levels of child malnutrition.
Most recently, an extremely harsh winter and a squeeze on commercial imports and bilateral assistance, raised new concerns for the food security situation in the country in 2011.
While malnutrition rates among children have decreased the last decade, one in every three children remains chronically malnourished or ‘stunted’, meaning they are too short for their age. A quarter of all pregnant and breast-feeding women are also malnourished. A Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (CFSAM) in October last year noted that a small shock in the future could trigger a severe crisis which would be difficult to contain if these chronic deficits are not effectively managed.
At the household level, assessments during 2008 and 2009 indicated a marginal improvement in food security. However, current rations provided by the DPRK government can meet well less than half of the daily calorific needs for the 68% of the 16 million population receiving public food rations through the PDS. Most people struggle to make up the deficit through alternative means as they do not have the necessary purchasing power.
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