World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

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 recent dry spell on the Korean Peninsula has had a significant impact on annual early crop.  Recently released government data indicates that at just over 207,000 metric tons, it is 40 percent down on last year.  WFP DPRK Country Director Claudia von Roehl recently visited some farms in the affected area and this is what she saw. 

In June of this year, his Excellency Germán Ferrás Alvarez, Ambassador of Cuba in DPR Korea, welcomed the arrival of 844 tons of sugar donated by the Government of Cuba to DPR Korea and Nampo port.

WFP and UNICEF are working closely together to assist children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Australian aid officials recently went on a field mission to Wonsan, Hamhung and Nampo port to monitor Australian assistance to women and children through WFP in DPR Korea.

A Polish delegation participated in the monitoring of the arrival of food supplies in DPR Korea

"How does number the 13 relate to the food produced locally in DPR Korea? And the number five? What about the number seven?" These were some of the questions that over 60 DPR Korean participants of a Local Food Production workshop were asked when their session started on 28 February in Hamhung city, on the east coast of DPR Korea.  While individual factories have long experience in the production of biscuits and Supercereals in DPR Korea, their managers and core staff members have limited opportunities to meet and share issues of common interest to all producers.  

Ju Hye-Sim lives with her husband in Chongnam, in DPR Korea’s South Pyongan province. As a pregnant woman from a poor household, she received specialised nutritious food from WFP from the first trimester of her pregnancy, until six months after her child was born. This assistance is part of WFP efforts to ensure newborn children are given the best possible start in life in a country where under-nutrition is a chronic and widespread problem.

Sim Mun-Sop oversees work at Chongnam Gu People’s Hospital in DPR Korea’s South Pyongan province. On a recent visit to the institution, WFP’s monitoring staff heard how nutritional assistance has been helping young children return to health.

On October 3, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and WFP will commence this year’s  Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).