The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) are warning of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with high levels of acute food insecurity and surging emergency hunger, particularly in the conflict-ridden eastern provinces. According to the latest food security analysis, 26.6 million Congolese people are projected to face crisis levels of acute hunger or worse by early 2026.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the UN agencies stressed that the situation is most dire in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Tanganyika, where ongoing conflict, violence, displacement and limited humanitarian access are exacerbating food insecurity.
More than 10 million people — roughly one-third of the local population — in these four provinces are expected to experience crisis levels of hunger by January 2026, with 3 million already facing emergency conditions. This represents 75 percent of all those facing emergency hunger nationwide, an increase of 700,000 since March 2025.
However, the severity of the hunger situation extends beyond these provinces. This week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that at least 59 malnutrition-related deaths were recorded in the Punia and Lubutu territories of Maniema province alone within just three months. Local aid organizations documented around 775 cases of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and the dozens of related deaths between July and September 2025 in those territories, highlighting a broader pattern of escalating need across the country.
According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, a total of 26.6 million Congolese people are expected to be facing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse by early 2026, which is a significant increase on the current figure of 24.8 million. The analysis also predicts that the number of people facing emergency hunger conditions (IPC Phase 4) will climb from 3.2 million to 3.9 million.
Malnutrition among children is also a major concern in the provinces of Ituri, South Kivu and Tanganyika, driven by poor diets, limited access to healthcare and recurring disease outbreaks. Nationwide, nearly half of all children under five – around 3.2 million – are stunted due to chronic undernutrition. An ongoing analysis is underway to further assess the severity of acute malnutrition.
“Emergency agricultural assistance is one of the most cost-effective ways to meet urgent humanitarian needs,” emphasized Athman Mravili, FAO Representative ad interim, the importance of agricultural assistance in addressing immediate needs and building resilience.
“By equipping vulnerable and displaced families with the tools to grow their own food and earn income, this support not only addresses immediate hunger but also fosters resilience. Importantly, communities themselves consistently identify agricultural assistance as a top priority in times of crisis.”
However, FAO has been severely hampered by funding shortfalls. As of August 2025, the UN agency had only assisted 217,000 people, far short of its planned target of 3.6 million. In order to scale up its support to approximately 2.4 million people in 2026, the FAO requires US$127 million.
Similarly, WFP is struggling to meet growing needs with shrinking resources. While focusing on the eastern provinces, the agency has reduced its planned assistance from 2.3 million people to just 600,000 due to funding shortfalls. It anticipates that its pipeline will completely run dry by February 2026. The WFP faces a funding gap of US$349 million over the next six months.
“We are working tirelessly with the government and the humanitarian community despite shrinking resources for this neglected crisis,” said Cynthia Jones, WFP’s Acting Country Director in DRC.
The UN organizations emphasize that the escalating food crisis in eastern DRC demands immediate global attention to ensure no one is left behind.
“The latest IPC figures make one thing clear: the eastern DRC’s food crisis is escalating. Without urgent resources and action, millions of lives are at risk, and regional stability will suffer. The time to act is now – before the cost becomes irreversible,” Jones added.
DR Congo emergency and the global crisis in humanitarian funding
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is not the only country experiencing an emergency where humanitarian funding is drying up. In mid-October, WFP warned that severe disruptions to six of its most critical operations, including those in the DRC, are expected by the end of the year due to dwindling resources, which will push millions into emergency levels of hunger and endanger the lives of millions of vulnerable people.
Global humanitarian funding plummeted in 2025, primarily due to severe cuts implemented by the United States. However, other major donors, including the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden, have also reduced their support, with those responsible residing in Washington, Berlin, London, and other capitals of some of the world’s most prosperous nations.
Meanwhile, DR Congo continues to experience armed conflict in its eastern provinces, particularly in North and South Kivu which has led to a deteriorating humanitarian situation and mass displacement. The situation worsened drastically in the first months of the year as the conflict in the east dragged out. However, the humanitarian conditions in eastern DRC remain dire, with ongoing reports of clashes.
For years, the human rights and humanitarian crises in DRC have been spiraling downward, prompting senior UN officials 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 North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri, have been plagued by violence for decades as non-state armed groups fight for control of the region's rich natural resources. Many of those forced to flee have been displaced multiple times. Urgent humanitarian needs include food, protection, shelter, and sanitation.
Furthermore, the country is grappling with several major health emergencies, including measles, mpox, and cholera. Since the beginning of this year, DRC has experienced a concerning surge in epidemics, particularly measles and cholera.
Despite the severity of the situation, the world has largely turned a blind eye to the ongoing emergency. With more than 21 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, DR Congo is experiencing one of the world's largest and most complex humanitarian crises.
Access restrictions and severe funding shortfalls continue to hinder the entire humanitarian response effort and has forced many aid agencies to scale back their operations, disrupting life-saving services for those in desperate need, and endangering the lives of millions of people in the country.
The 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan requests $2.5 billion to assist 11 million people, yet it is currently funded at less than 17 percent, having received only $472 million thus far.