(Yonhap Interview) WFP on standby for possible N. Korea drought
2015/06/11 06:30
By Park Sojung
SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- The United Nations food agency is closely monitoring the weather conditions in North Korea in order to send emergency assistance there in case of a protracted dry spell, the agency's regional director in Asia said Wednesday.
South Korea said a day earlier that food production in North Korea may fall by 20 percent on-year if the current drought continues until early July.
"The concern is going to grow week by week until we get closer to the traditional July harvest," David Kaatrud of the World Food Program (WFP) told Yonhap News Agency in an interview. "So our role is to not only be vigilant ... but also stand ready should assistance be required to change our operation toward relief related to any type of food insecurity."
Last month, North Korea received less than 60 percent of the average monthly rainfall recorded between 1981 and 2010. Precipitation reached a 15-year low last year, with the U.N. warning of severe food shortages should the dry weather there continue.
The WFP has mainly focused on providing nutrition to the most vulnerable, or about 2.4 million children and women, for the past two years.
It recently extended the two-year project, slated to end this month, through the end of 2015.
"We need enough time to refine the intervention we're doing now," he said. "The broad contours of what we will be doing next would be very similar to what you see now -- it will continue to be focused on a targeted nutrition intervention because that's what's required there."
He reiterated that the WFP was ready to shift its targeted intervention to a more widespread one in case of a severe food crisis.
"But we don't have any indications (of that) yet," he said.
The North has relied on international assistance since 1995 to help feed its people in the face of chronic food shortages.
About 70 percent of its people lack food and 1.8 million, including children and pregnant women, are malnourished, according to U.N. data.
The WFP is the U.N.'s largest humanitarian aid arm, accounting for more than 60 percent of the world's food assistance.
South Korea's contributions to WFP operations globally reached US$31 million last year.
The two sides held their first annual consultations Wednesday, cementing their commitment for the Zero Hunger Challenge pioneered by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The challenge aims to ensure that every person has a right to adequate food.
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