The World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FOA) have forecast that North Korea’s cereal shortage will reach 542-thousand tons in the next year.

In a joint report released Wednesday, the U.N. agencies said the impoverished country faces a cereal import requirement for the 2010-2011 marketing year of an estimated 867-thousand tons.
The report said the North Korean government only plans to import commercially about 325-thousand tons, leaving 542-thousand tons as an uncovered food deficit.

The organizations recommended that some 305-thousand tons of international food assistance be provided to the most vulnerable parts of the population. It estimated that out of the North’s population of some 23 million, around five million will continue to suffer from food shortages.