Silver Spring, Maryland — To help fight child malnutrition in the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK), the Adventist Development and Relief Agency’s (ADRA) bakery in Pyongyang, DPRK, is producing high-nutrient, whole wheat cookies to benefit 32,000 children.

Daily, 300,000 cookies are produced in two shifts by the 50 bakery workers. The cookies are delivered to the provinces of North and South Pyongan where they are packaged and weekly transported by ox cart to 450 local kindergartens.

The biscuits, each imprinted with a smiley face, are lightweight, easily stored, and readily packaged and transported. They are also simple to divide into servings and distribute to the children.

The machinery and personnel costs of this joint venture are co-funded by ADRA Switzerland and Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (DWHH)/German Agro Action (GAA), and are valued at more than $100,000. In addition, raw materials are being funded by DWHH.

In 1995, ADRA started project activities in North Korea that included the distribution of food, medicine, and seeds. ADRA has also introduced solar-powered cooking to parts of North Korea where electricity and heat are not readily available.

Since 2002, ADRA has been operating a bakery that produces 50,000 bread rolls, six days a week, that are delivered to 25,000 children in Pyongyang. An additional 32,300 children in the north of the country receive a rice-milk blend produced by ADRA in cooperation with the World Food Programme.

ADRA has also rehabilitated a hospital and trialed a project that will use biogas plants to produce a year-round energy supply. In addition, using a truck provided by ADRA, the World Health Organization (WHO) partnered with ADRA to deliver hospital kits valued at $83,000, following the train blast that occurred in April. Future projects in the area affected by the train blast are also under consideration.