North Korea Food Crisis

There are concerns that North Korea is experiencing a food crisis among its population. There have been deaths due to starvation and the lack of food.

Experts say  the food shortage may be a chronic mismanagement by North Korea’s government. Farming equipment cannot be repaired because there are not enough spare parts. There is a not enough fertilizer  to make soils better. In addition, natural disasters, like floods and typhoons destroy farmland. This has led to a 4% drop in food production.

Only 20% of the country is suitable for farming.  Because of North Korea’s isolation, technology is decades behind western standards. Food that is produced goes into a centralised distribution system, where army soldiers and officers get the most.  Farmers in the countryside are not allowed to sell food privately.

The country’s leader, Kim Jong Un has ordered officials to raise agricultural production in order to feed the country’s population. Most of North Korea’s imported food comes from China, its most important trading partner. Food shortages have happened before. A famine in the 1990s killed  up to 3 million people.