Tell me whether the English writing is fluent with your intuition

The recent food shortages in North Korea are the result of climatic disasters, some problems with collective farming, and the economic difficulties which began in the early 1990s. Okeydoki

As economic difficulties resulted in a shortage of energy, and of raw materials such as fertilizer and agricultural chemicals, agricultural productivity decreased. Okeydoki

The situation was made even worse by the cold weather, floods, and droughts which have occurred frequently since 1993. Okeydoki

Thus, the food situation in North Korea is now in a state of difficulty. [The word choice, 'difficulty' seems a bit odd.]

Recently some policy changes are giving encouraging results. Okeydoki

If I read it in a completely neutral situation, I don't believe that I'd think about whether it was written by an ENL or an ESL.

no - it doesn't flow to my ear, but there are some very simple changes, that when made, will make it more fluent. I would write it like this:

The recent food shortages in North Korea are the result of climatic disasters, problems with collective farming, and economic difficulties that date back to the early 1990's. As economic difficulties have resulted in shortages of energy and raw materials (such as fertilizer and agricultural chemicals), agricultural productivity has decreased. The situation has been exacerbated by cold weather, floods and the droughts which have occurred frequently since 1993, although recent policy changes are netting encouraging results which may help alleviate some of North Korea's difficulties with food production.

Much better.

Thank you both.

You're welcome. Upon rereading it, and being an American English speaker and writer, I'd also be tempted to add a comma after the word 'floods' in the third sentence, to encourage a pause to emphasize them as a separate factor from the droughts that have been occurring since 1993-
So I'd amend what I presented you like this:


But again, just as everything else I changed- that's nothing more than a matter of personal preference.