A/HRC/16/58 In practice, the amount of cereals received by this group depends on the level of production nationally in a given year and is planned in September/October at the time of the harvest. In 2009/10, households received a reduced ration on average of about 375 g per day or approximately 136 kg per person, as there was a cereal deficit at the national level.13 32. The deficit was unlikely to have been fully covered by other foods, owing to low purchasing power of these households.14 The PDS system has not proven to be effective over the last several years and the Special Rapporteur calls on the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to rethink the policy in light of the challenges, with the view to ensuring that the population of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is not deprived of its right to food. 33. The availability of seed, fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide continues to be a problem, but there was some improvement in 2010 as compared to 2009. Mechanization on the farms perhaps represents the biggest challenge to agricultural production and biggest potential for development in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. With the recent rehabilitation of old tractors and acquisition of some new tractors, the operational rate on farm tractors has improved to 73 percent this year, up from 72 percent in 2009 and 57 percent in 2004.15 The Special Rapporteur would like to encourage the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to continue engaging with the United Nations agencies such as FAO, which has the needed technical expertise in addressing some of the concerns raised on input to agriculture. 34. The supply of electricity, important for irrigation on those farms that depend on pumps, was reported as being generally better in 2010. In 2009/10, cereal rations distributed to non-farming households represented on the average 65 per cent of the target ration, providing about 50 per cent of the energy requirement.16 35. The price of rice, which wavered between 400 and 500 won between March and June 2010, drastically rose to 900 won in mid-July 2010 and has maintained such levels since. Prices in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have soared since currency reform in 2010, starting from 100 won and reaching 1,500 won this May 2010.17 The currency reform is seen by most observers as a failure and has caused more harm than good. 36. On the basis a reported per capita cereal consumption of about 140 kg per year in recent years and a population of about 24 million, the country requires about 3.36 million tonnes of cereal for human consumption. Considering other uses such as seed, feed, postharvest losses and some stock changes, FAO estimated import requirements of 1.10 million tonnes for the marketing year 2009/10 (November/October). However, given the ongoing economic constraints it is unlikely that this deficit can be covered by commercial imports.18 37. The Special Rapporteur notes that a growing number of college students in Kangwon Province are leaving school in 2011. Although incidents of dropouts have been sporadic in the past, they are currently rampant in every Kangwon Province College. This problem relates to the economic situation, in particular with the Currency Reform Act, 13 14 15 16 17 18 See ibid., p. 11. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Jenny Kang, “Smuggling stabilizes rice price��� (Open Radio for North Korea, August 2010). Available from http://english.nkradio.org/news/273. “GIEUWS Country Brief”. 9