North Korea farming in difficult times facing drought all around the country which leads to “huge food deficit”.
As North Korea considered as one of the world’s most opaque countries, however, it is now facing its huge problem especially to the farmers.
Drought in the country continuing for almost a year gives burden to the farmers and it is unclear how severe the drought is in the rest of the country.
“With the hardship this year, farmers have a lot of difficulties in trying to make the farm work, because we haven’t had this kind of experience before,” says Kim Gyong Nam, a work team leader at Unpha town farm. “This year, because of the severe drought, we could not do rice farming, so we ploughed the land again and had to plant corn.”
The country is now facing food shortages and its food production is now affected by severe droughts that expose the inefficiencies of its agricultural system, which is heavily reliant on foreign aid.
Areas affected in North Korea farming are South Hwanghae, North Hwanghae, South Pyongan and South Hamgyong, the North’s main growing provinces have been badly damaged by a severe drought, report says.
Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University said, “agriculture is much less state-run and much more private than it used to be, and the farmers who work for themselves work better and with greater efficiency.”
In North Korea, where the supply of a sufficiently balanced diet is a significant problem even in good years, that could mean a leaner-than-usual lean season ahead.
The good news for farmers is that the rainy season is still on the way. June usually sees the beginning of the North’s rainy season, and if the rains come that could mitigate the problem. IMAGE SOURCE
