NEWS FROM
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF

August 7, 2002

For more information contact Jonathan Frerichs at (410) 230-2802.

In this news release:

1. Aid Helps Feed North Korea

Aid Helps Feed North Korea

Baltimore, August 7, 2002 Assistance from Lutheran World Relief is helping the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), what Americans know as North Korea, increase its food production. Farm managers report that yields are higher than on neighboring farms because of the support from LWR and American Friends Service Committee, implementer of the agriculture project, which reports to LWR: “We are satisfied that what we do is helping in significant ways.”

The agricultural aid is particularly important to the DPRK. The country has endured a long famine and its food-producing ability has been weakened by a serious drought.

The following vignettes describe how the aid is helping:

• When we were beginning to experiment with green manure crops as a winter cover crop, one of our technical consultants, the head of the Crops and Soils Department at Washington State University, suggested a specific variety (Chinese milk vetch) which had been grown widely throughout northern China, Korea, and Japan before World War II. But as we asked farmers and researchers in the DPRK about it, a few people recognized the name but no one had any experience with it. This was a clear sign that the "industrialization" of DPRK agriculture had erased memory of traditional, sustainable farming methods.
  When we visited Sambong farm, and the consultant showed the manger and head of research his laptop pictures of the crop, the research director suddenly said, "I know this! My parents used to grow it in the fields when I was small. It has purple flowers and we boys would gather them to weave into garlands for the girls' hair." There was an immediate unspoken affirmation in the room of their common history, and Mr. Ri became a strong supporter of efforts to identify and expand use of appropriate varieties of green manures. He has continued to manage the variety tests carefully, and on his own has begun to plant the best varieties for seed production, in order for the farm to have its own source of seeds.
  
  
• A few years ago, we were able to distribute about seventy different samples of wheat and barley to two farms for variety testing. This was an attempt to identify which varieties were adapted to the harsh Korean winter conditions and the need for an early spring harvest before the rice is planted. As expected, many varieties did not do well (that is the purpose of a variety test, after all), but some were growing well in the spring. In the fall, when we returned to Kajang farm, the farm manager, who until then had been dour and reserved - a real "crusty" guy - met us with excitement and enthusiasm, exclaiming even before we got out of the car, "I want to report that several of the wheat varieties show a potential yield of over 5 tons per hectare!" Their normal yields for wheat have been less than 2 tons/hectare, so this was a very significant advance. They have continued to multiply and test the small samples over the following years to produce enough seed for wider planting. Also at the end of that day's visit, Mr. Chang said "We've never taken a photo of us all together. I'd like one to remember the start of our cooperation." And of course we obliged.
  
  
• In the spring of 2001, the DPRK experienced a 100-day drought, which seriously damaged the winter wheat and barley crops, as well as the spring corn plantings. Some farms had to replant corn 3 or 4 times until they ran out of seed, because the plants would germinate and then die in the drought. Learning of the crisis, we provided one small portable irrigation pump to each of the three farms, on an emergency basis. Delivery was slow. At Kobi farm, the drought continued longer than in other locations, and once the pump arrived the farmers literally ran it 24 hours a day for a month, with rotating teams of workers to attend the pump and move the sprinkler pipes. Mr. Kim, the vice manager, said they were able to irrigate about 90 hectares of corn this way (about 40% of the farm's corn area), and those fields produced between 4 and 6 tons/hectare. The farm's average corn yield was 4 tons/hectare, whereas surrounding farms without irrigation only produced 2 tons/hectare. Kobi farm has now become a believer in the value of small amounts of supplemental irrigation at critical times in the growing season, and we provided them two more pumps for 2002.
  
  
• During the worst years of the famine (1996-7) many people were scavenging for food. The leaders at Kobi farm reported that they ate ground up corn cobs mixed with other foods, and hardly had enough strength to work. The situation has greatly improved after we began to help, and on our spring trip this year (May 2002), Mr. Kim at Kobi reported that their farm had been selected as the best farm in Kangdong district because of their superior production. He attributed this to our assistance, but we also said it was largely due to the hard work of the farmers. We have noted on our visits to Kobi that they seem to complete their rice transplanting and harvesting earlier than many of the other farms, even though the winter in their area is colder and a bit longer than areas west of Pyongyang. Mr. Ri, the manager, has spoken several times about AFSC assistance giving the farm residents encouragement and enthusiasm, and for whatever reason, we usually see more activity there. On the same visit, as we were walking around the fields in a mostly unplanned manner, a few groups of farmers stopped and waved to us from a distance in greeting. This is something we have never experienced before in the DPRK, where all contact with foreigners is carefully controlled and discouraged. I can only guess that it reflects shared knowledge of our assistance, and understanding that we come in friendship.
  
  

LWR has provided $463,500 in material aid and cash grants in the past year to assist North Koreans. LWR supports an agricultural project on the western coastal plain, a major rice-growing region to restore food production and reduce dependence on outside food aid. The project, implemented by LWR partner American Friends Service Committee works with cooperative farms in the development of alternative sustainable agriculture techniques. Through the provision of materials and training, and with the assistance of local scientists, the project is improving soil fertility, developing non-chemical fertilizer techniques, and strengthening seed genetic lines. Production rates of the cooperative farms are up 30% in the last two years, and this year, an additional cooperative farm has been added to the project.

Lutheran World Relief urges all people to pray for the people and especially the farmers in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

When long-term threats to food supplies occur, in addition to the support of prayer, there is a very real need for cash so that LWR’s local partners can provide needed assistance.