Slate: Bad management, lack of fertilizers, and lousy terrain
(NEWSER) - With North Korea agreeing to suspend its nuclear program in exchange for food aid (yet again), the Explainer blog at Slate takes on the question of why the North keeps suffering from famines and food shortages. In short, "poor growing conditions, fertilizer shortages, and general mismanagement." In the 1950s, to overcome its poor soil, North Korea turned to a fertilizer-heavy farming system, but the collapse of the Soviet Union meant the end of the North's cheap petroleum, the source of much of its fertilizer. More»
