• WFP seeks $349M to support food aid in DRC through April 2026.
• Acute food insecurity may rise to 26.6M people amid ongoing conflict.
• Aid cuts forced WFP to scale back assistance from 2.3M to 600,000.
  

The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday, October 29, that it will need $349 million to fund its humanitarian operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through April 2026. According to the latest analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the number of people facing acute food insecurity in the country could rise from 24.8 million to 26.6 million by early 2026.

Conflict in eastern DRC has displaced millions and undermined livelihoods, particularly in North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, and Tanganyika provinces. “Beyond these areas, malnutrition is widespread nationwide. Nearly half of children under five—around 3.2 million—suffer from stunted growth caused by chronic undernutrition, severely compromising their development,” the WFP said.

The UN agency appealed for greater funding to sustain its operations over the next three months. It warned that a global decline in development aid had already forced it to scale back assistance in the DRC this year to 600,000 people, far below the 2.3 million initially planned.

“This is an urgent call for action. The people of DRC need peace. But they also need life-saving food assistance to get back on their feet, because food security is the foundation of lasting peace,” said Cynthia Jones, WFP Country Director for the DRC.

The DRC ranks among the 10 countries with the highest numbers of people facing acute food insecurity, according to the Global Report on Food Crises published in May. The others are Nigeria, Sudan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Syria.

Espoir Olodo