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Emergency Support to Vulnerable Households to Mitigate the Impact of Drought and Floods on Agriculture - TCP/DRK/3705

Copyright licence

Year of publication 2020

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 9

Publisher FAO ;

Category Factsheet

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) In August 2018, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea faced one of the most severe heat waves/droughts in decades. Below average rainfall from mid-July until mid-August, normally the wettest months, coupled with high temperatures, resulted in moisture stress during critical crop development stages in localized areas of main crop-producing provinces. The six most affected provinces were North Hamgyong, North Hwanghae, South Hwanghae, South Hamgyong, South Pyongan and Nampo. The situation was further exacerbated by heavy rains in late August 2018, which caused flash flooding in the provinces of north and south Hwanghae. Over 9 000 people were displaced, nearly 1 800 residential buildings were destroyed or damaged, and 11 745 ha of arable land were flooded. With only 22 percent of the total land area of the country arable, an imminent crop failure would have serious consequences on the food security situation in the country. Despite a trend towards slow but steady growth of food production over the past five years (2012-2017), domestic production still falls short of meeting the demand for food by about one million tonnes in cereal equivalent. The erratic performance of the country’s agriculture sector is also caused by the recurrence of extreme weather events (drought and flood) - almost annually, hindering sowing and/or retarding the growth and development of planted crops - difficulties in cultivating the large mountainous terrain, and lack of access to modern production inputs, including fuel, tools and equipment for mechanized farming. In addition to general food insecurity, most people do not consume an adequately diverse diet, which reinforces cycles of undernutrition. The project focused on providing emergency support to mitigate the impact on crop production from the ongoing drought and floods, while also promoting complementary risk prevention and mitigation measures for more resilient farming systems.

Language English

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