The challenge of responding to multiple and compounding food shocks: The case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ulimwengu, John M. 2024. The challenge of responding to multiple and compounding food shocks: The case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Scripta Varia 154: 201-208. https://www.pas.va/en/publications/scripta-varia/sv154pas/ulimwengu.html

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been the centre stage of various crises, ranging from political instability, violence and insecurity to the biggest outbreak of Ebola in the world’s history. As a result, the country’s development status remains low, characterised by pronounced malnutrition, high poverty rates and fragile livelihoods (INS, 2019; Marivoet, De Herdt, & Ulimwengu, 2019).

At the same time, the DRC is endowed with countless natural resources. The country has the potential to become one of the richest economies on the continent and a driver of African growth. Given that around 65% of total population live in rural areas, the agriculture sector has by far the biggest potential to be an engine of inclusive development.

Despite its significant agricultural and mineral resources, the DRC has the largest number of food insecure people in the world, resulting from a combination of factors including conflict, increased food prices and transportation costs, as well as the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other epidemics. The country’s protracted food crisis is compounded by one of the world’s longest-running armed conflicts with armed forces associated with foreign forces that continue to fight intensely in the eastern territories. According to the 2023 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFS) (FSIN, 2023), the Democratic Republic of the Congo has the highest numbers of people in IPC Phase 3 or above, at about 26.43 million, accounting for over 55 percent of the region’s total number of people in these phases, mostly due to compounding shocks the country experiences.

The armed conflict in Eastern DRC has led to the displacement of people, often forcing them to abandon their farms and livestock. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that as of 2021, there were over 5 million internally displaced people in DRC (OCHA, 2021). The displacement severely undermines food production, leading to food shortages in the region. The ongoing conflict has led to the destruction of infrastructure crucial for agriculture, such as irrigation systems, storage facilities, and roads needed for the transportation of food and farming inputs. This has also reduced the ability of farmers to engage in productive agriculture, leading to food insecurity (FAO, 2020). Even when food is available, conflict can make it difficult for people to access markets due to safety concerns. Roads are often blocked by armed groups, preventing the transportation of food to markets (WFP, 2021).

Timely response to these shocks becomes critical as households and communities that have lost their livelihoods because of a shock can rapidly deplete assets and engage in coping strategies with long-term effects on well-being. Given resources constraints, proposed responses must be based on evidence. However, in addition to the lack of adequate data, empirical misspecifications may lead to erroneous evidence; therefore, increasing the challenge to design, implement, and monitor required interventions in the face of multiple shocks. In this paper, using the case of Eastern DRC, I highlight the need for researchers and policymakers to consider the complexities and nuances of different shocks and their interactions in order to design more effective food security interventions.