Malnutrition persists in North Korea, especially among children, despite an improved harvest this year, two UN food agencies said on Friday.
The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program (WFP) said the harvests are expected to increase by about 8.5 percent compared to last year’s, following visits to the country’s agricultural provinces.
Despite the improvement, North Korea would still need to import cereals, but the imports would cover less than half the required amount, the two Rome-based agencies said in a joint report published on Friday.
The report said nearly 3 million people would continue to require food assistance next year. Children have been among the most vulnerable to the effects of shortages of nutritious food.
“Hospital staff told the assessment mission of a significant increase in malnutrition among young children,” the report said. “Some pediatric wards indicated that the cases admitted for malnutrition since April had doubled,” compared to the same period a year earlier.
“A lack of protein, fats and vital vitamins and minerals continues to compromise proper physical and intellectual development into adulthood,” the UN report said.
The agencies quoted an official at the WFP’s food security analysis unit, Arif Husain, as saying “humanitarian support in the form of fortified blended foods for the most vulnerable continues to be critical.”
UN officials have appealed to wealthy countries to put aside politics to help hungry North Koreans. There have also been concerns as to whether Pyongyang’s authoritarian government diverts food aid.
Last month, at the end of a visit to North Korea, a UN undersecretary-general, Valerie Amos, urged donor countries to put the needs of North Koreans ahead of other considerations.
Key international aid donors, including the US, have largely shunned donating to North Korea because of its provocative behavior and lingering questions about whether the country withholds food from its citizens.
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