American nongovernmental organizations have urged the U.S. government to immediately provide North Korea with food aid.

David Austin, program director for North Korea at U.S. NGO "Mercy Corps," said on Friday that the heads of five NGOs visited the North from September fourth to the tenth, inspecting food conditions in the communist country.

The NGO chiefs reportedly agreed that the North will face a food crisis as a famine is predicted to take place within six to nine months if no immediate international aid is provided.

Austin added that the NGOs could not just sit idly by on the matter and decided to take various actions to raise funds from the private sector. To that end, the NGOs plan to hold a presentation on the North’s food crisis at the California State University on Friday local time.