Welthungerhilfe in North Korea: From distributing food to supporting rural development and water supply

In the greenhouse. © GutschkerWelthungerhilfe has been working in North Korea since 1997, shortly after the country had been hit by severe rainfall and flooding. In the first years, Welthungerhilfe distributed mainly emergency items: food, coal, and children's clothes. But soon it became clear that more was needed.

Therefore, at the end of the 1990s we started with agricultural projects in South Hwanghae and North Pyong'an Provinces to show people how to produce food themselves. The agricultural cooperatives were supported to improve their seeds, to diversify and intensify agricultural production and to maintain their agricultural machinery in a more efficient way.

After 2000, the work expanded to more areas and to more fields. Integrated rural development projects were carried out. Hundreds of greenhouses were built, mainly in the neighbourhood of social institutions, like kindergartens and nursery homes, providing them with fresh vegetables all year round.

Villages and towns have been supplied with adapted drinking water systems and have now save and clean water throughout the day. A large maize seed processing factory has been built and is producing 7.000 tonnes of high-value seeds annually. Barren hills and mountains are reforested in order to prevent future disasters like landslides and floods so that the impacts of future rainfalls and floods can be minimized.