Situation Update
A clearer picture is emerging of the
food crisis in North Korea, with eyewitness accounts relating a grim prognosis
for the coming harvests while attesting that international food aid is
helping to prevent famine from sweeping the country.
Reports from expatriate Koreans in China and from recent emigrants interviewed by World Vision paints a picture of continued suffering. And a joint report released last week by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme describes an even worse outlook than expected, both in the immediate future and over the next year. According to the report, this year's harvest will cover less than half the population's minimum food needs, while in the coming season dangerously low levels of water reserves will threaten the country with even poorer output.
"There will be an even greater dependence on international assistance for food, agricultural rehabilitation and vital inputs of seed and fertilizers..." the report states, adding that without which "the human consequences are likely to be dire."
Recent Developments
Typhoon-Response Food-for-Work Activities
The monitoring team from the consortium of U.S. aid agencies has completed its first round of monitoring for the food-for-work (FFW) program, making physical inspections in 19 of the 22 counties being covered. This FFW program plans to distribute 8,140 metric tons of food commodities to families affected by Typhoon Winnie in exchange for repair work to dikes damaged by the storm. The team's initial findings indicates good progress in allocating food to beneficiaries in the most severely damaged areas. The team will make additional visits when future food shipments reach the same geographic area.
Other Feeding Program
The third shipment of U.S. food to arrive in North Korea is expected to unload at the end of this month in a port on the nation's eastern coast. This marks a shift away from the country's largest port of N'ampo, near the west-coast capital of Pyongyang, in order to prevent any bias in the allocation of food towards the western half of the country. The 19,000 metric tons of commodity aboard this third ship, the Overseas Harriet, will be targeted primarily along the eastern provinces, including the troubled northeastern province of Ryanggang.
Other CARE Activities
A contribution of 1,680 metric tons of fertilizer, secured by CARE Norge from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been allotted to 25 cooperative farms in six provinces. CARE USA had already targeted these farms to receive a significant donation of seeds -- enough to produce 14,000 metric tons of maize, which can feed 600,000 people for two months. The Director of Korean Affairs at Mercy Corps International has been monitoring the use of these grants through Mercy Corps' partnership with CARE, and will report on how poor rains and early harvesting may have affected these projections.
While continuing to be a leader in the response to North Korea's food crisis through its participation in the five-member consortium of aid agencies, CARE USA launched renewed efforts this week to secure additional funding for both short-term food and longer-term development assistance. CARE USA is seeking to provide inputs such as seeds and fertilizer, and to broaden and deepen the scope of international assistance to vulnerable households in North Korea. Toward that end, CARE USA has developed a proposal to raise $1 million from private funding sources in the United States and from friends of Korea overseas.
At the same time, CARE International has developed a multi-intervention proposal to address a range of needs identified over the last month by Simon Williamson, a CARE Australia official. The proposal, titled Food Security for Children in Nurseries and Kindergartens in the DPRK, seeks $120,000 to enhance the food security of children by assisting 30 nurseries in the production of vegetables and small livestock. It is being circulated among CARE International member countries.
About the Consortium in Pyongyang
CARE is the lead agency in the humanitarian consortium in Pyongyang, which is a partnership of major American organizations committed to international relief and socioeconomic development. The consortium is working in North Korea under the aegis of the World Food Programme and in collaboration with the North Korean Flood Damage and Rehabilitation Committee. The group is charged with ensuring that 55,000 metric tons of U.S.Government-donated food commodities reaches the most vulnerable populations through planning and monitoring activities. At the same time, the consortium is seeking to bring additional resources to the country.
The members of the consortium are:
- CARE USA
- Catholic Relief Services
- Amigos Internacionales
- Mercy Corps International
- World Vision Relief and Development
CARE
151 Ellis Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30303-2439
1-800-521-CARE, ext. 999
info@care.org