News in brief: The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the highest number of people in critical food insecurity, with around 26 million facing acute hunger. The country is also plagued by violence, displacement, and diseases.
There are about 26 million people facing acute food insecurity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to a recent United Nations press release. The country has the most people in the critical spectrum of food insecurity in 2023 at about 24% of its entire populace.
A breakdown of the numbers shows that 2.8 million people in the DRC, of the estimated 103 million people living there, cannot afford food unless they use emergency livelihood strategies or liquidate assets. They face high acute malnutrition because of large food consumption gaps.
Meanwhile, 21.7 million of them are forced to deplete essential livelihoods assets to meet minimum food needs.
Only 30% of the country’s populace can afford essential food and non-food needs without engaging in atypical and unsustainable strategies. About 46% of them can minimally afford adequate food consumption but have to employ stress-coping strategies to afford some essential non-food expenditures.
Violence continues to plague the DRC as armed forces fight each other. Dr. Jorge Castilla, WHOâs Senior Emergency Officer, told reporters that nearly 7.4 million people in the country need health assistance and over 3 million have fled their homes. Diseases are also causing problems in the region, especially cholera, which is afflicting about 1,000 persons weekly.
The country’s agricultural is also suffering and despite its importance to food security, only 4.1% of humanitarian funding goes to supporting the sector. Instead, recipients rely on cost-effective emergency livelihood interventions.
