World Vision and World Food Programme scale up food distributions in Kasai Central as malnutrition sets in

This World Food Day, World Vision and WFP are working together to distribute almost 245 tonnes of urgently needed food in Dibaya territory. Over the past year conflict has ravaged Kasai Central, a heretofore peaceful province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Tentative peace has more or less returned to the Kasais since June, but at the height of the crisis, 1.6 million people had fled their homes. Many families tell stories of spending months in the bush, surviving on fruit and nuts.

“It was really difficult when we were hiding in the forest.” 13-year-old Anto told us at a food distribution in August. “We haven’t been eating well since.”

In August, WV and WFP were the first humanitarian actors to begin food distributions in Kasai Central, and reached over 28,000 food-insecure people with cornflour, beans, oil, and salt - enough for a 2100kCal diet for 30 days. To date, teams have reached over 55,000 people, and plan to reach over 100,000 by the end of the year. 

An estimated 80-90% of the population in the Kasais have returned home since August, but most are returning to nothing. Survivors arrive to find their livestock gone, and after three missed growing seasons, many have turned to eating seed to survive. Over 3.2 million people are severely food insecure.

Working together, World Vision and World Food Programme will provide over $5,000,000 worth of aid to the most vulnerable families in Kasai Central with basic foodstuffs through December, after which point the response will transition to recovery.

“We’re now coming up to the fourth planting season to be missed since the beginning of the crisis,” Davies Bishi, World Vision Kasais Response Manager, explained. “Our teams in Dibaya are returning with stories of burnt houses and emaciated children. Surveys show that 95% of families are in desperate need of aid. Over the next few months, our goal is to distribute as much food as WFP can possibly provide, and help cover the gap until families can start growing for themselves again.”

Notes

World Vision has been delivering relief, rehabilitation and development programs to conflict, disaster-affected, poverty-stricken populations in DRC since 1984. Currently, WV operates in 14 out of 26 provinces, with programming in protection, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, food aid, food security, peacebuilding and emergency relief reaching almost 2.5m people as direct beneficiaries in 2015. We are the World Food Programme’s (WFP) biggest partner in country, distributing food to nearly 1 million people.

World Vision declared a Category III National Emergency in the Kasais in June 2017, and has been targeting 146,000 beneficiaries in the Grand Kasai region, as well as refugees who’ve fled to Angola. Initial interventions focus on food and child protection, with a fundraising goal of 2million USD.