UN food agency slows aid to the DPRK

"The number one reason of why we have to scale down our operations (in the DPRK) is a lack of funding," WFP spokesperson Bettina Luescher told a press conference here. "When we launched the operation in October, we were hoping we could feed 6 million people but the funds have simply not come in." The WFP has received 70 million U.S. dollars in funding -- only14 percent of what they need to feed a majority of the 8.7 million people in the DPRK who need food assistance, said Luescher. But Sheila Sisulu, the deputy executive director for Hunger Solutions at the WFP said food assistance was also being scaled back because the DPRK government had requested as such. "We are in the process of phasing down the (DPRK program) for a number of reasons ... including that the government of DPRK itself has said they don't need emergency food assistance," Sisulu said, adding that entry points had been closed. Food shortages in the DPRK is mainly caused by a long-term decline in soil fertility, shortages of inputs, extreme weather events, and structural issues, including constraints on market activities, according to the WFP, Kazinform cites Xinhuanet. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.