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Food Aid Reached 10 000 Children in North Korea

Countries
DPRK
Sources
Fida International
Publication date
Origin
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Fida provided North Korea with 60 tons of food aid. The distribution from mid-May to mid-June ensured a daily meal for 10 000 children for a month.

Food aid, consisting of maize, was sent to 18 kindergartens and 12 day-care centres in the northwest region of Jongju. In addition, for the first time food was also delivered to the remote mountains of Sepo in Kangwŏn.

Project worker Markku Toimela, who participated in the distribution explains: - The kindergartens are like pre-schools. The day-care centres cater for under 5-year-olds. The purpose of the aid was to guarantee adequate nutrition for growing children during the day.

  • The initial plan was to continue distribution for a longer period and to concentrate on a smaller area, but once we were there we realised that by shortening the distribution time we could help a larger group of children. I took part in checking the food stores and conducted spot checks of the places receiving the aid, Markku Toimela adds.

The North Korean food security has been sorely tested during the past year. The crops were depleted in May-June by the worst drought in a century. Then floods destroyed parts of the rice, corn and potato crops in autumn.

  • The food situation has been extremely worrying. And when the situation is bad, people will eat anything edible, including the seed potatoes. And once the seed potatoes are eaten, future crops will be smaller again and it was this cycle that we wanted to stop, explains Markku Toimela.

  • Now it looks like that the food aid has arrived at the right time and the crop of seed potatoes in the spring will be successful, rejoices Markku Toimela.

First Visit to the Sepo Region

The second target for the food distribution, Sepo, located in the mountains in the country's south, is a new region for co-operation for Fida. The food security of this region is particularly vulnerable.

  • The terrain is difficult and the climate is challenging. The annual average temperature remains at six degrees, so there are not many crops for cultivation and the growing season is almost half of that of Finland, for example, explains Markku Toimela and continues:

  • The poverty of the mountain area shows in their agriculture. In ploughing, bulls are used instead of tractors, as the equipment is old and there is no fuel. Some corn and potatoes are grown in the area, but due to poor storage, up to 40 per cent of the potato crop is spoiled.

The food aid was the first opening for co-operation in Sepo. Markku Toimela looks at the future with an open mind.

  • I studied the conditions and opportunities in the area for longer-term development work. I found enthusiasm and willingness towards developing potato growing there.

Focus on Lasting Food Security

In North Korea, Fida's goal is to develop permanent solutions to food shortages. The project to grow seed potatoes, which was started in Jongju more than ten years ago, has gained a permanent foothold in the improvement of food security.

  • We started to export Finnish potato growing expertise to North Korea from almost nothing. Now those seed potato farms that we support provide quality seed potatoes to 27 counties. We have been able to strengthen local skills by providing training in farming technique, Markku Toimela recalls.

Fida has provided food aid to the country a few times over the last few years. Humanitarian aid deliveries are implemented when they are seen to support the long-term food security program.

Fida has operated in North Korea for over ten years. The work started in the 1990s with humanitarian assistance and has continued as development co-operation. Fida has a seed potato project in North Korea to permanently improve food security as well as a regional hospital development project and a preventative children's dental health project.