North Korea faces increased food uncertainty as production dwindles

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, total food production in the country last year stood at around 5.4m tonnes, down from 5.9m tonnes in 2014, marking a 9% decrease.

In particular, production of paddy rice, the country's main staple, dropped by 26% to 1.9m tonnes, mainly due to poor rains and low availability of water for irrigation.

The FAO's estimates for cereal import requirements for the current year amounts to 694,000 tonnes. With 300,000 tonnes expected to be covered by government imports, a deficit of 394,000 tonnes represents the highest gap since 2011/12.

Given the current tight food supplies, North Korea’s food security situation is expected to deteriorate from last year, when most households were already estimated to have poor or borderline food consumption levels.

Besides severely affecting the rice crop, the dry conditions during last year’s main season, coupled with the low availability of irrigation water following recurrent dry spells since July 2014, also had a negative impact 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 2.29m tonnes in 2015.

The FAO’s report noted however 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, including sorghum, millet and buckwheat, is estimated at 156,000 tonnes—almost triple the level of 2014.

Current early-season potato production and minor wheat and barley, to be harvested from June, is forecast at 363,000 tonnes, a figure that is 21% higher than the sharply reduced 2015 levels.