23 July 2015
The World Food Programme (WFP) sends 1,500 tons of food each month to the most vulnerable people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
How is WFP fighting hunger in North Kivu?
Current operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are designed to provide food assistance to the most vulnerable people in the country’s most conflict-affected provinces, like North Kivu.
WFP aims to assist 3.6 million people in DRC in 2015. WFP provides life-saving food assistance for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in conflict-affected areas, reduces malnutrition through supplemental feeding to children aged 6-59 months, as well as to pregnant and nursing women, provides school feeding to displaced children, and supports the early recovery of people returning to their areas of origin.
Mungote camp is located in Kitchanga in Masisi territory, 85 km north-west of Goma. It’s the oldest camp in the territory of Masisi and has been in existence since December 2006. It currently shelters nearly 17,000 people - among them some 5,000 persons identified as being vulnerable and have been regularly assisted by WFP since April 2014.
Protein-rich beans are being distributed. They are an essential food that ensures a healthy balanced diet.
School Feeding Programme
Each month WFP distributes corn flour to the camps. From this distribution nutritious fufu balls, along with beans, are cooked daily for the local school children. This will often be their only meal for the day. These meals will allow them to improve their nutritional status and provide a good incentive for the children to attend their classes.
Nutrition centres - Fighting malnutrition at its roots
The nutrition centre at Mugunga 3 camp treats 195 pregnant and nursing women and children monthly. They receive a premix of corn, soya, beans, flour, enriched peanut paste, vegetable oil and sugar.
Food For Work - From emergency to resilience building
How does the WFP food-for-work programme address environmental and women’s protection issues in Lac Vert camp? Through the production of biomass briquettes made of old paper from WFP offices and sawdust.
Their manufacture and use in the camps limits the cutting of firewood which in turn helps protects the environment. Briquettes also help reduce household expenditure and spare women the chore of having to find wood in the bush where they are often exposed to sexual violence.
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Those who work in the programme are members of the host community. In exchange for their work, through which they make hundreds of briquettes daily for the 5,500 vulnerable people living in the camp, they receive WFP food rations.
The Luhonga marshes were drained through the hard work of 600 returned households. These households lost almost everything in their villages of origin after living several years in IDP camps.
WFP's food-for-work programme has allowed them to produce their own food. After three months of work, 24 hectares were drained and planted by the beneficiaries. When the leeks and cabbages are harvested, some will be eaten by the programme participants while others will be sold, thus earning a small income for these returned families.