North Korean children face hunger amid worst drought since 2001.
The isolated communist state, which partly relies on food aid, will likely need increased imports this year.
North Korea’s production of staple crops for 2017 – including rice, maize, potatoes and soybean – has been severely damaged by extended drought conditions, the United Nations’ food security agency warned on Thursday.
Harvest shortfall expected Production of this year’s early season crops plunged by over 30 percent from the previous year’s level of 450,000 tons to 310,000 tons, the FAO estimated.
The FAO called on donor nations to commit to increased food aid – which has fallen sharply in recent years – despite the prospect of further international sanctions and other measures against the secretive communist state.
"Immediate interventions are needed to support affected farmers and prevent undesirable coping strategies for the most vulnerable, such as reducing daily food intakes," said Vincent Martin, FAO Representative in China and DPR Korea in a statement.
Some relief was provided by the arrival of rains in early July, but researchers said they were too late to allow normal planting of the main season crops, which will be harvested in the fall.
The FAO’s Martin said farmers now need irrigation equipment and other machinery urgently to prevent a major longer-term disruption to food supplies.
North Korea suffered a devastating famine in the 1990s and has relied on international food aid to feed many of its 25 million people.
The latest FAO report was prepared with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.