North Korea farming remains one of the regime’s most persistent vulnerabilities, with chronic food insecurity rooted in poor soil, outdated infrastructure, ideological constraints on agricultural reform, and the ongoing tension between collective farming and the individual responsibility system. Daily NK covers North Korea farming through reports on harvest conditions, seasonal mobilizations, fertilizer and equipment shortages, agricultural policy directives from Pyongyang, and the ground-level reality facing farmers across the country’s provinces. Our in-country sources provide some of the most detailed and timely reporting on North Korea’s agricultural situation available in English.
Tag: farming
Disease control efforts are impacting compost production, sources
Daily NK sources have reported that North Korea’s efforts aimed at combating the spread of COVID-19 have begun to impact compost production this year.
North...
N. Korean farmers are showing up to work less than before
North Korean farmers are showing up less and less to work the fields and farm families are facing serious food shortages, Daily NK sources...
N. Korean rice sellers raking it in thanks to skyrocketing prices
The rise of North Korean rice prices have led to massive profits for rice wholesalers who acquired rice from China before the closure of...
N. Korean farms failing to repay loans face backlash from creditors
Collective farm work units in North Hamgyong Province are being hounded by creditors after failing to pay back loans they used to buy needed...
N. Korean farmers increasingly renting out idle land
Farms in the mountainous inland areas of South Pyongan Province are increasingly renting out idle land left unused because of farm worker shortages, Daily...
N. Korea presses for unrealistic increases in farm production
Amid North Korea’s calls for increased food production following the designation of agriculture as the “major point of attack” at the 5th Plenary Meeting...
Greenhouse vegetables: An end to N. Korea’s food shortages?
North Korea is making an effort to overcome its food shortages by expanding its greenhouse-based vegetable and fruit production industry, Daily NK sources recently...
Realities N. Korea faces in improving agricultural production
Since assuming power, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has traditionally given a New Year address every year. These New Year addresses generally followed...
N. Korea tackles corruption involving “experimental fields”
North Korean authorities recently instructed farm and agricultural management committees across the country to eradicate “illegal and corrupt activities” involving “experimental fields” located on...
N. Korea slaps ban on private sale of recently harvested grains
On Monday, Daily NK learned that the North Korean government has banned the private sale of recently harvested grains as a result of poor...
