FAO office in DPR Korea held a workshop during 18–20 December 2018 at the Taedonggang Diplomatic Club, Pyongyong. The objective of the workshop was to share experiences among stakeholders in the field of disaster risk reduction (DRR), disaster risk management, and climate change adaptation in DPRK’s agriculture and rural sectors. The workshop focused on identifying how climate change is affecting the agriculture system, rural livelihoods and understanding how climate change-induced trends of change are affecting the country’s food and nutrition security. It discussed current levels of relevant knowledge and capacities of various government ministries, departments, and organizations and identified rational technical and practical approaches in agriculture and rural sectors to bolster national food and nutrition security.

Stakeholders representing a number of national and international agencies attended the workshop. National agencies represented were the National Committee for FAO (NCFAO), State Committee for Emergency and Disaster Management (SCEDM), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Land and Environment Protection (MoLEP), Ministry of Fisheries (MoFi), Ministry of Urban Management (MoUM), Ministry of Food Administration and Procurement (MoFAP), Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS), Academy of Agricultural Sciences (AAS), State Hydrometeorological Administration (SHMA), and the Pyongyang Agricultural College of Kim Il Sung University. Among the international agencies represented were Swedish Embassy, UNDP, WFP, FSO, EUPS Units, and IFRC.

The workshop was inaugurated on 18 December 2018 with a Welcome Address by Bir C. Mandal, Deputy FAO Representative in DPRK. It was followed by a brief address by So Song Ho,  Secretary General, National Committee for FAO, DPRK, and an address by Gustaf Salomonsson, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Sweden. Sunder Subramanian, International Consultant, in his speech introduced the objectives and structure of the three-day workshop.

Bir C. Mandal in his presentation provided a snapshot of natural disasters, which hit DPRK over the period 2010-2018 and illustrated the emerging pattern of climate extremes. He highlighted the impacts on food security and discussed the overall scenario of DPRK farm production over the period 2012–2017, focusing on the importance of building resilience in the agriculture and allied sectors in DPRK. Sunder Subramanian introduced basic DRM, CCA and CSA concepts in his presentation “Strategies, experiences and lessons learnt - global best practices to improve resilience through CCA in food & nutrition/agricultural/rural sector”. He also discussed vulnerability risk assessment (VRA) focusing on its methodologies and tools. Vijay Yadav, International Consultant – Rice Breeder, presented a paper on experiences in rice and wheat breeding in the context of climate change.

Following the presentations, group discussions were held on selected themes to identify rational technical and practical approaches of CCA in DPRK’s cooperative farm production to strengthen food and nutrition security. Representatives of both national and international agencies took part in the group discussions.

The workshop ended on 20 December 2018 with a brief summary of the three-day proceedings followed by a brief address by Yon Chun Ae, Senior Officer, Ministry of Agriculture. Gustaf Salomonsson in his address expressed satisfaction with the workshop proceedings and conveyed his interest in participating in the next workshop to be organized under this SIDA-funded and FAO-implemented project. Bir C. Mandal delivered the Vote of Thanks.