27 million in DR Congo facing acute hunger – UN

Two United Nations agencies say about a third of the entire population of the Democratic Republic of Congo is facing acute hunger and have appealed for urgent additional funding to deal with the crisis.

The World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization say it’s never been this bad with more than 27 million Congolese now urgently in need of food – the highest number in any country in the world.

Both UN agencies describe the scale of the crisis as staggering and say DR Congo should be able to feed its population and export a surplus.

Conflict is a key cause of hunger especially in the eastern provinces where dozens of rebel groups carry out frequent deadly attacks.

The situation is dire in the central Kasai provinces where there’s also been conflict.

The UN agencies say the Covid-19 pandemic and an economic downturn have made the situation even worse.