Ituri : More than a million people suffer from food insecurity (WFP)

More than a million people are plunged into alarming food insecurity in the province of Ituri, the World Food Program (WFP) revealed Wednesday in Bunia during an activity marking World Food Day celebrated on October 16 each year.

The famine in Ituri mainly affects children and women living in the sites of displaced people. The World Food Program cites several causes underlying this situation:
  • Low household income
  • Lack of quality agricultural inputs
  • Plant diseases
  • Difficulties of access to certain agricultural areas due to the activism of armed groups.

According to Jeanne Alasha, advisor to the provincial governor in charge of humanitarian affairs, armed conflicts and problems of cohabitation between communities exacerbate food insecurity among peasant populations.

She insisted on the need to restore security in production areas to put an end to this growing crisis:

“Our policy (consists of) working for peace, emergencies and development to stabilize Ituri, so that we become what we were before: the breadbasket of the DRC.”

Around twenty organizations working in the field of food security in Ituri participated in this awareness day on the problem of famine, with the aim of strengthening actions in favor of people affected by food insecurity.

Faustin MUNGUTSI
 

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