BEIJING (AP) North Korea's production of staple foods has increased for the third year running, but mothers and babies still lack sufficient vitamins, fat and protein, leaving many children stunted, the World Food Program's North Korean representative said Thursday.
Dierk Stegen said the government has focused on producing cereals,
but that it needs a more diverse food supply. He said about 80 percent of North Korean households lack the appropriate amount of vitamins, minerals, fats and proteins in their diets.
"The government has already strengthened all means to produce more food in the fields, but this is cereals and not real diversified food and that's what is lacking for babies and their mothers," he said in an interview in Beijing.
Stegen said North Korea still has a high rate of stunted growth in children, but did not provide figures for this.
Staple food production in 2013 increased about 5 percent year on year, with an estimated 5.03 million metric tons of milled cereals produced, Stegen said. There is a food deficit of 340,000 metric tons, most of which is expected to be filled by government imports. Stegen called the remaining gap of 40,000 tons "small."
