Food Assistance in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - WFP 2011

February 17th 2011 - The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) continues to face consistent and significant food shortages as the agricultural sector is not able to meet national food requirements. Agricultural production is severely limited by input shortages in particular fuel and fertilizers and by vulnerability to natural disasters. While the DPRK needs to import significant amounts of food to meet its food requirements it continues to have difficulty funding its food imports. Assessments reveal that the country has high rates of malnutrition: 33 percent of children are stunted 20 percent are underweight and 25 percent of pregnant and lactating women are malnourished. According to a recent crop and food security assessment 8.7 million people – or 37 percent of the population – require food assistance. CIDA’s contribution to WFP is helping to meet the immediate needs of the most vulnerable food-insecure populations in North Korea. The primary objective of this operation is to restore and rebuild food and nutritional security in the DPRK through the provision of food and nutritional support for women and children and through food-for-community development programs.