North Korea’s total food production – including cereals, soybeans and potatoes in cereal equivalent – is estimated to have fallen in 2015, the first drop since 2010, according to a FAO update.
The authority expects this to worsen food security in the country.
In 2015, total food production in North Korea (officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is estimated to have been about 5.4 million tons compared to 5.9 million tons in 2014, registering 9% dip, the update said.
In particular, production of paddy rice, the country’s main staple, dropped by 26% to 1.9 million tons, mainly due to poor rains and low availability of water for irrigation.
FAO’s estimate for the country’s cereal import requirements for the 2015/16 marketing year (November-October) amounts to 694,000 tons.
With 300,000 tons expected to be covered by government imports, the uncovered deficit of 394,000 tons represents the highest gap since 2011/12, the report said.
The estimates are based on official production figures and analysis by FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) in collaboration with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.
Food security set to deteriorate
Given the tight food supplies in 2015/16, the country’s food security situation is expected to deteriorate from the previous year when most households were already estimated to have poor or borderline food consumption levels.
Crop overview
Besides severely affecting the rice crop, the dry conditions during the 2015 main season, coupled with low irrigation water availability following recurrent dry spells since July 2014, also impacted negatively on the production of maize, the country’s second most important cereal crop.
Despite an expansion in plantings, maize output is estimated to have decreased by 3% to 2.29 million tons in 2015.
The report noted that the output of more drought-resistant soybeans – the most important source of protein in North Korea -increased by 37% to 220,000 in 2015.
Similarly, the output of other cereals (sorghum, millet, buckwheat) is put at 156,000 tons, almost triple the level of 2014.
Production of 2016 early season potatoes and minor wheat and barley, to be harvested from June, is forecast at 363 000 tons, 21% higher than the sharply reduced 2015 level.
