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North Korea's Premier of the Cabinet Pak Pong-ju, left, visited Changyon and Sinchon Counties in South Hwanghae Province to check agricultural produces there, according to Korean Central News Agency, May 23, 2018. Yonhap

The international Red Cross has decided to provide North Korea with water pumps as part of an emergency measure to help the impoverished nation cope with worsening food shortages caused in part by droughts.

The emergency "action plan" for North Korea will include a provision of 15 mobile water pumps to help improve irrigation under the disaster relief emergency fund, according to a release by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Monday.

The IFRC has set aside 76,946 Swiss francs ($75,466) for the aid program. The funds will be spent over a three-month period to provide the pumps and fuel to operate the pumps and educate farmers about proper use, it said.

The provision is expected to benefit some 331,967 residents, or 5,831 households, in counties in eastern South Hamgyong Province.

The IFRC said providing water pumps is essential, especially for the spring crop production, because a shortage would deprive North Koreans of food supplies until the main harvesting season in September.