wfn.org | Re: North Korea's food shortage worse than Ethiopia's in the 1980s

[Mennonite Central Committee Communications]

TOPIC:  NORTH KOREA'S FOOD SHORTAGE WORSE THAN ETHIOPIA'S IN THE 1980S
DATE:   September 27, 1996
CONTACT:  Pearl Sensenig
V: 717/859-1151 F: 717/859-2171
E-MAIL ADDRESS:  mailbox@mcc.org

"Drawing near a precipice"

AKRON, Pa. -- Rice and maize fields carpet the landscape. 
Yet many of these fields in South Hwanghae and Kangwon
provinces, North Korea, will produce nothing.  Excessive
rain flooded the fields at a critical growing point,
preventing seedlings from maturing.

Just as the deceptively green fields don't appear
damaged, so hunger in famine-stricken North Korea looks
different than you might imagine, says Al Kehler, who
returned earlier this month from a second trip to North
Korea.  Kehler is program coordinator of the Canadian
Foodgrains Bank, of which Mennonite Central Committee
(MCC) Canada is a member. 

"North Korea's food shortage is more severe than
Ethiopia's was in the early 1980s, but I didn't see people
dying," says Kehler.  "However, everyone -- without
exception -- is thin."  In Ethiopia food shortages
affected a small segment of the population, while in North
Korea the shortage is spread throughout the population. 
People are struggling to cope by "dividing up the
shortages," says Kehler, and warns by next year the
situation will be "very bad." 

"The image that captures my fears for North Korea is one
of a boat filled with 22 million people being drawn toward
a precipice," says Kehler.  "We must find a way to do
more to help -- to prevent them from going over the
edge." 

Poor economic planning by the North Korean government
and several natural disasters have contributed to the
country's food shortage, estimated at a million tons. 
Last year, isolated North Korea launched an
unprecedented appeal to the world for help.  The
response has been lukewarm.

To date in 1996 the Canadian Foodgrains Bank has
supplied nearly 4.4 million metric tons of rice that
arrived in North Korea in April, June and August. 
Distribution of this food, enough to feed 440,000 people
for a month, is being supervised by the United Nations. 
MCC's contribution to this effort is valued at $466,500
Cdn./$336,100 U.S.  With the Church of the Brethren,
MCC has also sent canned meat to a North Korean
Christian group.  MCC's portion was worth $35,344
Cdn./$25,536 U.S.  

While in North Korea, Kehler observed four distribution
centers and pronounced them well-organized; those in
charge provided detailed lists showing who is receiving
the food.  Kehler was touched by one woman who learned
enough English to carefully say thank you for the rice. 
"It was very humbling and gratifying to feel this
connection," he says.  "She realized people somewhere
cared for her, and she had found someone to thank."

Later Kehler visited the home of an elderly rural couple
who pointed out marks on the walls, indicating how
floodwater had filled their house.  They had brought
their pig into the house to keep him safe, they said. 
However, as the water seeped in, they grabbed the pig
and ran for higher ground.  The couple had just
received some rice and with broad smiles thanked Kehler
several times.

Kehler also visited a clinic in Kangwon province where
he quizzed a doctor about young children's health. 
"When we monitor food and hunger issues, we try to
determine how children under 5 are doing," explains
Kehler.  "Because these are critical developmental years,
young children tend to show the effects of famine first."

Kehler was delighted to hear of no noticeable change in
young children's weight; the doctor said adults,
particularly parents, give their rations to the children. 
But he said students ages 8 to 17 are remarkably thinner
and babies born during the last year are smaller than
usual.

Kehler expects to meet with Canadian government
officials next month to discuss what he saw in North
Korea.  Typically, food and cash donations to the
Canadian Foodgrains Bank are matched at a ratio of four
to one under an agreement with the Canadian
International Development Agency.  However, North
Korea is not on the Canadian government's list of eligible
recipients.  Kehler hopes an exception can be made for
North Korea, but says even if the Canadian government
refuses to help, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank will
continue to make sending food to North Korea a top
priority.

"North Korea should be able to sustain itself through the
winter with the harvest that will be completed next
month," says Kehler.  "But the population is already
weak and low food rations next year are likely to cause
further decline."

Future food shipments will be targeted to arrive from
March to October 1997, the time period when Kehler and
other food security experts predict the situation will be
desperate.

                         -30-

Pearl Sensenig, MCC Communications
27september1996

1)  MCC Photograph available:  Two officials at a
warehouse in Kangwon Province, North Korea, display
bags that held rice supplied by Mennonite Central
Committee through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, and
by Caritas, a Catholic agency.  The rice was given to
families in flood-affected areas.  (Photo by Al Kehler)

2)  MCC photograph available:  North Koreans wait in line
to receive food.  (Photo by Rick Fee)