The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has sounded the alarm over a deepening hunger crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where years of conflict and mass displacement have pushed more than three million people to the brink of starvation.

In a statement released Thursday, the WFP said entire communities in North Kivu, Ituri, and South Kivu provinces are running out of food, with aid convoys struggling to reach isolated populations trapped by insecurity and flooding.

“We are facing one of the world’s most complex humanitarian emergencies,” said Peter Musoko, WFP Country Director in the DRC. “Every day without access means lives are being lost to hunger, especially among children.”

A Crisis on Multiple Fronts

According to WFP data, 7.4 million Congolese are now severely food insecure, with nearly half of them concentrated in the country’s volatile east. The convergence of armed conflict, climate shocks, and economic instability has left millions dependent on humanitarian assistance that is increasingly difficult to deliver.

Fighting between the M23 rebel movement and government forces has displaced over 1.5 million people this year alone, forcing many to seek refuge in overcrowded camps near Goma and Bunia. Heavy rains and washed-out roads have further disrupted the delivery of food aid.

Satellite imagery released by the WFP shows widespread crop destruction across farming zones in Rutshuru and Masisi territories, areas that once supplied a third of the region’s staple harvests.

“The fields are empty, and markets have collapsed,” said Esperance Kavira, a farmer displaced from Masisi. “We rely entirely on food distributions, but sometimes they don’t come for weeks.”

Human Cost of Insecurity

The crisis has hit children hardest. The UNICEF-WFP joint nutrition assessment found that one in three children under five in eastern DRC suffers from acute malnutrition. In some conflict-hit areas, that figure climbs to 50%, with families surviving on foraged plants and cassava leaves.

Health centers report rising cases of stunting and anemia, while access to clean water remains severely limited.

“This is not just hunger, it’s systemic collapse,” said Dr. Sarah Numbi, a physician with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) working near Goma. “We are treating children for malnutrition and mothers for trauma in the same tent.”

Funding Gaps and Global Attention

The WFP says it needs $470 million to sustain operations through the first quarter of 2026 but has received less than 40% of that funding. The agency has already been forced to halve rations for displaced families and reduce school meal programs in several provinces.

The DRC hosts one of the world’s largest internal displacement crises, with nearly seven million people uprooted by violence — more than Ukraine and Sudan combined. Yet donor fatigue and competing global crises have drained support.

“We are being outspent and outpaced by disaster,” Musoko warned. “Without immediate funding, we will see famine conditions in parts of North Kivu before the year ends.”

Regional and International Calls

The African Union and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have urged the international community to treat eastern Congo’s crisis with the same urgency as other global emergencies.

Neighboring Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi have also faced spillover from the violence, as refugees cross borders in search of safety and food.

UN agencies are now coordinating cross-border relief corridors through Lake Kivu and airlifts from Kisangani to bypass rebel-held territory.

“Peace and access must go hand in hand,” said Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. “We can’t feed people we can’t reach.”

The Takeaway

The hunger crisis in eastern DRC is worsening faster than aid can keep up. With millions displaced and farmlands destroyed, the WFP’s warning underscores an urgent need for funding, ceasefires, and humanitarian access.

In one of Africa’s most resource-rich nations, the paradox remains tragic — a land of vast mineral wealth where millions now go to bed hungry.

“We’ve lost everything,” Kavira said quietly. “Even hope is becoming a luxury.”