U.N. agency: Food crisis has been averted, for now

By Michael A. Lev
Chicago Tribune

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The U.N. agency said it has been able to resume aid to about 2.7 million of its 4.2 million neediest recipients by persuading the North Korean government to lend it 25,000 tons of cereal from the public-distribution system that provides minimal sustenance to the public.

The borrowed grain — which the government had earmarked for later distribution — needs to be returned as soon as the WFP receives shipments from donor countries, and some newly pledged food is on the way. But the agency's stocks are still stretched thin because of continued reluctance by governments to deal with the belligerent, militaristic regime.

Food supplied through the WFP has become increasingly irregular over the past two years, causing large-scale and frequent ration suspensions. Donor countries have complained that the North Korean government has not permitted unfettered outside monitoring of the supply chain, leading to suspicions that some food has been diverted to the military.

At the beginning of February, the WFP said it could provide only enough cereal to feed 85,000 women and children, a tiny fraction of the millions of North Koreans considered most at risk.

Some nurseries and kindergartens have been forced to close, while others have cut from three to two the number of meals they provide their children.

Last week, two WFP-assisted factories producing fortified noodles for childbearing women suspended operations after their stocks of wheat flour ran out.

Newly scheduled shipments will reduce the number of WFP recipients not getting food to 600,000 in April and May, but the WFP said that without further commitments soon, the number of people without food will rise again to 1 million in June and to almost 3 million in August.

"Given the long lead time between food aid donations and deliveries — routinely three to four months — we need pledges now in order to feed the hungriest of the hungry in the latter part of the year as well as to repay loans," said Masood Hyder, the WFP's representative in Pyongyang.

Hyder said the fact that North Korea was willing to lend it food from its reserves reflected the "steady improvement in our relationship."

North Korea, which is holding talks in Beijing with the U.S. and four Asian countries over its covert nuclear program, does not have enough food to feed its people.
 
The government-run public-distribution system, which serves the 70 percent of the 23 million people in urban areas, provides recipients about 300 grams of cereal a day, less than half the internationally recommended minimum.

The government supplies consist of last autumn's rice and corn harvests and needs to last a year. Rations are likely to decrease over the coming months as national stocks are depleted, the WFP said.

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