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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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International and Area Studies

SelectedWorks

2008

Food crisis

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Markets And Famine In North Korea, Marcus Noland, Stephan Haggard, Erik Weeks Aug 2008

Markets And Famine In North Korea, Marcus Noland, Stephan Haggard, Erik Weeks

Marcus Noland

In the 1990s, as many as a million North Koreans died in one of the worst famines of the 20th century. Unlike the dramatic recent natural disasters in Burma and China, North Korea’s current food crisis, a product of self-destructive policies, bad weather, and global food price increases, has metastasized largely beyond public view, abetted by Pyongyang’s penchant for secrecy. Permanent resolution of North Korea’s chronic food problems requires revitalization of its industrial economy. Genuine opening would enable the country to earn foreign exchange and import bulk grain on a commercially sustainable basis, just as South Korea, China, and Japan …


North Korea On The Precipice Of Famine, Marcus Noland, Stephan Haggard, Erik Weeks May 2008

North Korea On The Precipice Of Famine, Marcus Noland, Stephan Haggard, Erik Weeks

Marcus Noland

North Korea is once again headed toward widespread food shortages, hunger, and famine. As of this writing, the prospect of hunger-related deaths occurring in the next several months is approaching certainty. The expectation is based on four pieces of evidence, which we outline in the policy brief: - Food balances are as precarious as at any time since the great famine. - Access to aid or commercial import is limited by diplomatic tensions and the word food crisis. - Domestic food prices show the kind of extreme price inflation that is typical of pre-famine or famine settings. - The domestic …