More than 25 million people suffer from hunger in DRC
The World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday urged help for millions of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where chronic violence and displacement continue to fuel a dramatic hunger crisis.
The agency's figures show that from March 2022 to date, some 5.7 million people have been displaced to safety in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri.
The total number of uprooted people is estimated at 6.2 million across the country, the highest number on record in Africa.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri said that while the DRC is vast in size, millions of its people have no choice but to live in "overcrowded and squalid" camps or with already impoverished host families.
Phiri added that displacement has led to food insecurity as people are driven off their land and unable to grow food.
Difficulties in aid distribution
He explained that as a result of the chaos caused by some 120 non-state armed groups operating in the country, WFP has great difficulty getting life-saving aid to vulnerable communities, and he said it must continually negotiate access to these points.
"It normally takes between one and four days to deliver food assistance in the area from Goma to Beni, 241 kilometres apart. However, it is currently taking us three to four months to do so because of insecurity," he said.
The spokesman recalled that humanitarian disasters are the result of forgotten emergencies.
WFP warned that the latest projections suggest that 25.8 million people in DRC will face acute food insecurity by 2023, the highest number in the world.
The spokesperson underlined the paradox of a country rich in natural resources in which a large part of its population suffers from hunger.
The DRC produces precious metals needed in the world's most advanced technologies.
Climate crisis
Adding to the rising violence in the east of the country is the climate crisis, which continues to cost lives and livelihoods. At least 400 people were killed in disastrous floods in South Kivu last month and 3,000 homes were destroyed, causing further displacement.
The WFP spokesman said host communities also face the risk of famine.
He also announced that the agency has increased assistance to reach 3.6 million people in the next six months.
He reported that so far this year, only 15% of the $870 million needed for the humanitarian response in the country has been secured and called on the donor community to act.
"We need investment in infrastructure and basic services, but most importantly, we need peace," he stressed.
