North Korean authorities urgently released state reserve grain to farms in South Hwanghae province, the country’s principal grain-producing region, after a growing number of farm worker households struggling to find food caused a sharp drop in farm attendance.
According to a source in the province, the Cabinet, the administrative body that oversees North Korea’s economy, issued an emergency directive on Aug. 8 ordering farms in South Hwanghae province to release state reserve grain and immediately supply a 10-day food ration to farm worker households facing shortages.
The directive followed reports that a growing number of farm workers in the province had run out of food entirely and could not manage even one proper meal, causing attendance to plunge and disrupting crop management, according to the source’s account.
“South Hwanghae is called the nation’s rice bowl, but the very people farming the land had completely run out of food, to the point where they couldn’t come out to the fields, and some were on the verge of starving to death, so the authorities hurriedly opened the reserve warehouses,” the source said. “That’s how serious conditions have become for farm workers.”
Most of the food supplied this time consisted of substitute staples such as recently harvested potatoes, corn, wheat and barley rather than rice, the source said. Authorities also sent each farm detailed distribution guidelines specifying the amount to be supplied per household and the method of payment.
Farm workers in South Hwanghae have expressed some relief that they can stave off immediate hunger, but they have also voiced disappointment that the supply amounts to only 10 days’ worth of food and consists of substitute grains rather than rice. “Among the farm workers, people are asking how they’re supposed to hold out again until autumn,” the source said.
Concerns over this year’s harvest
North Korean authorities’ decision to urgently release state reserve grain appears driven by concern that continued departures of farm workers due to food shortages, at a moment when crop management is most critical ahead of the fall harvest, could seriously damage this year’s grain production.
The assessment is that a drop in farm worker attendance would directly translate into a drop in this year’s harvest, prompting the emergency measure.
More farm workers appear to be returning to the fields since the food was supplied, but a 10-day supply is unlikely to resolve the underlying food shortages facing farm worker households.
“Farm officials are using this 10-day food supply as leverage to send farm workers back out to the fields, but it remains to be seen how enthusiastically the workers, who have only barely filled their stomachs, will work going forward,” the source said.
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August 19, 2026 at 04:26AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)