While North Korea has finished its farmwork for the year, a serious shortage of the straw and hemp sacks used to hold the harvested grain has caused trouble for storage and transportation, Daily NK has learned.
“The sacks for storing the threshed grain are in short supply, which is disrupting grain processing,” a source in South Pyongan Province said on Dec. 7, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The threshing of the grain and purchasing by the North Korean government proceeded quickly after mid-October. But there are not enough sacks to hold the grain, which has reportedly complicated efforts to transport the grain to purchasers.
“It’s normal [in North Korea] for there to be a shortfall of the straw and hemp sacks that are typically used for storing and transporting rice and corn. As a result, even military units have to bring their own hemp sacks when picking up their rice,” the source said.
The inadequate supply of straw and hemp sacks is a result of trade restrictions North Korea put in place when it closed its border because of the pandemic.
“Prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, it was possible to compensate for the sack shortfall by purchasing more at the markets. But imports have fallen since trade was suspended, which has made it harder to find sacks,” the source said.
North Korea closed its border with China in January 2020 in an attempt to block the flow of COVID-19, and imports and exports have been spotty during the three years and seven months since then.
The North Korean authorities have taken some steps toward easing the border closure, such as by allowing North Koreans residing overseas to reenter the country in August. But since trade has yet to be normalized, the North still seems to be dealing with a shortage of imported goods.
While North Korea has been trying to deal with the issue by promoting local production of straw and hemp sacks, that has also proven difficult.
“Farms have been rushing to repair the machines used to make straw sacks and have begun production. But that hasn’t been easy because few farmers have the technical knowledge needed to deal with the sack-making machinery,” the source said.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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