The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) are warning that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) continues to face one of the world’s largest and most severe hunger crises. This warning follows the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, which shows that over 26.5 million people—nearly one in four Congolese—are struggling to meet their basic food needs.
According to the latest IPC update, released on Tuesday, more than 3.6 million people are facing emergency conditions (IPC Phase 4), which means they are experiencing critical food shortages that threaten their survival without urgent assistance. This is the third-largest number of people in IPC Phase 4 worldwide, after Yemen and Sudan.
The IPC is the global authority for assessing the severity of acute hunger. IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) and above indicates that households are facing food consumption gaps or can only meet their needs through non-sustainable coping strategies. IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) reflects large food gaps and very high levels of acute malnutrition.
In a statement on Wednesday, FAO and WFP stressed that, although the latest estimates show slight improvement compared to previous projections, the situation remains worse than in the September–December 2025 period, when 24.8 million people were facing crisis levels of hunger or worse—highlighting the crisis's deepening and protracted nature.
“Far from easing, the crisis has become entrenched and increasingly complex, trapping millions of vulnerable households in a cycle of persistent need,” said David Stevenson, WFP Representative in DRC.
“Humanitarian assistance is a lifeline, but it must be scaled up urgently to match the magnitude of needs. Beyond emergency support, sustained investment in resilient food systems and integrated solutions is essential to help communities withstand shocks and move toward recovery.”
The hunger crisis is driven by relentless conflict and massive population displacement across the eastern part of the country, particularly in the four most affected provinces: North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, and Tanganyika, where more than 9.9 million people will continue to experience high levels of acute food insecurity. The ongoing conflict continues to destroy livelihoods, disrupt markets, and limit access to farmland.
“Every missed agricultural season increases dependence on humanitarian assistance” said Athman Mravili, FAO Representative ad interim in DRC.
“When families receive seeds, tools and timely livelihood support, they can produce food within weeks, protect their dignity and avoid falling deeper into hunger. But this support must arrive before planting windows close.”
According to the IPC, humanitarian assistance is not reaching nearly enough people in North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, and Tanganyika. Millions of vulnerable households are without the support they need to stabilize their food consumption and rebuild their livelihoods, often after experiencing large-scale displacement.
Across the country, there are more than 7.8 million internally displaced people (IDPs), many of whom have lost their homes, fields, livestock, and sources of income. Meanwhile, persistently high food prices, disrupted supply chains, and recurrent disease outbreaks, including cholera, measles, and mpox, are pushing already fragile communities closer to the brink.
In many affected areas, health facilities are either not functioning or operating under severe constraints due to insecurity. Poor road conditions hinder the transportation of goods and humanitarian aid, which isolates communities and drives up market prices.
The nutritional situation in the DRC is particularly alarming. An estimated 4.18 million children under the age of five require treatment for acute malnutrition. Of these children, more than 1.3 million are suffering or expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Additionally, over 1.5 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are projected to be acutely malnourished, which further compounds health risks for both mothers and children.
SAM, also known as severe wasting, is the deadliest form of malnutrition and can be fatal within weeks if left untreated. Children diagnosed with SAM require immediate, intensive treatment because they are extremely vulnerable to life-threatening complications and have a high mortality rate if they receive inadequate care.
Malnutrition weakens the immune system, making children more susceptible to infectious diseases. Contributing factors to the malnutrition crisis include insecurity, which limits access to farmland and high food prices.
Both WFP and FAO are warning that humanitarian assistance continues to fall critically short of what is needed. Without urgent and sustained investment, the crisis risks deepening further, which could have irreversible consequences for millions of people.
FAO urgently requires US$163 million to scale up life-saving agricultural support before critical planting windows are missed. Currently, the UN agency is supporting 55,500 families affected by the crisis in North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, and Tanganyika with a $10 million allocation from the DRC Humanitarian Fund.
The UN agencies reiterate the urgent need for a dual approach combining life-saving assistance with long-term support for agriculture, livelihoods, and food systems while ensuring safe, sustained humanitarian access.
Since January, WFP has provided emergency food and cash assistance to nearly 1.3 million people, which is only a fraction of those in need in the most affected eastern provinces. Of those, only 389,000 children and mothers received nutrition assistance between January and March, far below the required scale.
Limited humanitarian access due to insecurity, combined with a funding shortfall of $214 million through October, continues to constrain the WFP’s response and force difficult prioritization decisions.
Similarly, the overall humanitarian response inside the DRC is also critically underfunded. The $1.4 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2026 aims to provide assistance to 7.3 million people in a country where nearly 15 million people require humanitarian aid. However, it is currently only 34 percent funded, having received just over $476 million.
The humanitarian crisis in DR Congo is one of the longest-running and most neglected crises in the world. Ongoing armed conflict continues to be the primary cause of the emergency. For years, the country's human rights and humanitarian situations have deteriorated, prompting the United Nations to repeatedly warn of the dire situation and urge the international community to pay more attention to the plight of Congolese civilians.
The eastern provinces, particularly South Kivu, North Kivu, and Ituri, have experienced violence for decades as non-state armed groups battle for control of the region's natural resources. Last year, escalating hostilities spread throughout the region, leading to widespread displacement, continuous movement, and heightened protection risks for civilians.
Despite significant political developments, including a June 2025 peace accord between the Congolese and Rwandan governments, the crisis persists. While diplomatic efforts continue, active fighting remains prevalent in the eastern provinces, resulting in civilian deaths, injuries, and forced displacement.
Further information
Full text: IPC Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Acute Food Insecurity Projection Update, Jan Jun2026, Snapshot English, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), report, published on May 12, 2026
https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_DRC_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Projection_Update_Jan_Jun2026_Snapshot_English.pdf