A joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) revealed that, within that figure, approximately 3.6 million people are in a state of emergency and require urgent assistance to survive.

They added that humanitarian aid in the DRC is insufficient given the scale of the needs and maintained that, “without urgent and sustained investment, the crisis risks worsening further, with potentially irreversible consequences for millions of people.”

The FAO estimates that it needs an additional $163 million to expand vital agricultural support, although the complex security situation also affects these types of actions, given that violence from armed groups often prevents farmers from tending their crops or results in their crops being looted.

UN agencies have categorized the situation in the DRC as one of the world’s most severe and widespread food crises, exacerbated by insecurity and forced displacement, with approximately seven million internally displaced persons.

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