Farmers in North Korea have expressed their dismay over the government’s slashing of their annual food ration to half while the cattle food supply remains unchanged as the country reels under an acute food shortage.
North Korean farmers have been relying largely on the government’s supply of food grains that helps them survive massive food shortages, which Kim Jong-un’s regime has now halved, the Radio Free Asia (RFA) Korean Service reported on Jan. 7.
“Due to the lack of harvest this year, farmers who went to work 365 days … only received 200 days’ worth of grain,” an unnamed farmer told RFA.
Unlike the regular farmers, “cow managers” who work on the collective farms and take care of cattle received an additional “100 kilograms for 100 days’ worth of year-end grain all farmers receive for their daily labor,” stated an unnamed cow manager.
Reportedly, Kimjongsuk county has around four to six collective farming work groups consisting of 300-400 farmers who raise three to six working cows.
This preferential treatment has drawn the ire of many farmers who struggle to make ends meet due to declining harvests.
“Farmers complained that cows were treated more favourably than people”
“One hundred kilograms [220 pounds] of the corn kernel and corn stalks were supplied to the working cows on the cooperative farm,” said an official from South Pyongan province who refused to be named.
“As a result, farmers complained that cows were treated more favourably than people and that cows are more important than people [for the government],” the official further added.