UN agencies estimate better harvests in DPRK despite persistent undernutrition

An assessment by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) estimated there has been an increase in staple food production in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea despite persistent undernutrition, the Rome based agencies said Monday. The joint Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission visited all nine agricultural provinces of DPRduring the main annual cereal harvest in late September and early October, and estimated overall production for the main 2012 harvest and 2013 early season crops to be 5.8 million metric tons, an improvement of 10 percent over last year, FAO said. The mission estimated a staple food deficit of 207,000 metric tons, the lowest in many years, the Rome-based organization noted. This, however, should not mask an ongoing struggle with undernutrition and a lack of vital protein and fat in the diet, especially for an estimated 2.8 million vulnerable people, it added. Of particular concern to the mission was a 30-percent decline in soybean production due to a prolonged dry spell, as well as the limited quantity of vegetables available, perpetuating a chronic lack of key proteins, oils, fats, vitamins and micronutrients in most diets. Household vegetable gardens would help improve nutrition, while it is necessary to make changes to the agricultural marketing system that would allow farmers to sell their rice, maize and wheat at market, FAO economist and co-leader of the mission, Kisan Gunjal, was quoted as saying. According to WFP DPRK country director Claudia von Roehl, the new harvest figures were "good news." However, "the lack of proteins and fats in the diet is alarming, and WFP must double efforts to reach two million children with a steady stream of nutritious foods and so provide a more balanced, healthy diet," she said.