Large-scale humanitarian interventions in the late 1990s helped to alleviate serious food shortages in the Democratic People's Republic (DPR) of Korea. Since 1998 humanitarian assistance has supported approximately twenty percent of the population. The 2001 Consolidated Appeal[1], sixth in a series issued since 1996, emphasized the need for continuing humanitarian assistance while calling for increased engagement in recovery and development activities.
Figure 1 Dominant soil map of Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Source: DSMW - FAO/Unesco
Figure 2 Grain production in DPR Korea, 1986 to 2002
Source: FAOSTAT.
High yields of the order of 8 tonnes of rice and 6 tonnes of maize per ha were obtained until the early 1990s in DPR of Korea. Yields started to fall in the absence of the essential inputs such as fertilizers. Impoverished soils, poor in organic matter and with low levels of plant nutrients cannot sustain high crop yields without the support of fertilizers. With the domestic fertilizer industry in a run-down state there was little possibility of meeting the fertilizer needs internally and a lack of foreign exchange limited imports.
The FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Mission in June 2001 reported that cereal production in 2000/2001 was still much below the level required to meet minimum food requirements. According to the FAO/WFP Food and Crop Assessment of November 2000, the domestic grain availability in 2000/01 was 2.92 million tonnes. Grain demand for food and other uses was estimated at 4.79 million tonnes, leaving an import requirement of around 1.87 million tonnes. It was anticipated that commercial imports would amount to 200 000 tonnes and aid imports to 500 000 tonnes. On this basis, the uncovered requirement was estimated at 1.17 million tonnes.
Out of an area of about 1 850 thousand ha of cultivated land, at present 580 thousand ha are used for rice, 496 thousand ha for maize, 123 thousand ha for wheat and barley, 187 thousand ha for potatoes, 200 thousand ha for vegetables and 300 thousand ha for permanent crops such as fruits and mulberries.
With approximately 80 percent of the national area covered by mountains, DPR Korea has limited scope for bringing additional areas under cultivation. Additional food production requires an increase in the productivity of the existing arable area. Intensive production requires, among other factors, an adequate availability of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and agro-chemicals, seeds, irrigation and agricultural machinery.
Soil fertility levels vary widely across the country. Most of the arable land is deficient in the major nutrients and low in micronutrients. Nitrogen deficiency is the most common. Soils are mostly acidic in reaction and are deficient in organic matter. Sloping land with shallow soils, on which most of the maize is grown, is especially low in organic matter and nutrients. Growing crops without fertilizers or with low rates is mining the soil nutrient reserves. This is resulting not only in lower yields but also is reducing the efficiency of farm investments and inputs.
In recent years the weather also has had a major negative impact on crop production in DPR of Korea. Apart from 1998/99, the weather has been unfavourable for the past five years. The effects of weather are more pronounced in the uplands, which mostly do not have irrigation. The spring crop is more vulnerable than the winter crop.
During visits to irrigation reservoirs between April and June 2001, in the context of the monitoring of aid programmes, it was observed that the main irrigation reservoirs had low water reserves. The Unpa county reservoir, the largest in the country with a design capacity of 500 million m3 and the major source of water supply for the provinces of North and South Hwanghae, had less than one sixth (47 million m3) of its effective capacity (300 million m3). The reservoir catchments area of 70 000 ha had received little rainfall.
Even when adequate water supplies were available, shortage of fuel and of spare parts for the pumps often limited its use on the farms.
A joint UNDP/FAO agricultural sector study mission established the 'AREP' programme in 1997 in order to develop strategies and an action plan for increasing food production. The programme is supported by resident agencies and by non-governmental and bilateral organizations involved in the agricultural sector. The AREP plan aims to restore the food grain production level to 5.5 million metric tonnes per annum within a time span of two to three years, through the provision of agricultural inputs, rehabilitation, environmental protection and capacity building.
| [1] United Nations
Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the DPR of Korea, January-December,
2001, United Nations, November 2000 |
