North Kivu: Launch of a food security program benefiting 1860 displaced families

The Rural Development Center of Kibututu, (CEDERU) in Goma, North Kivu, launched on Wednesday, February 21, a food security support project for the benefit of 1860 households of displaced people and the most vulnerable host families in the health area of CEPROMI /Biyongi.

According to engineer Paul Muhasa, coordinator of CEDERU, this project aims to meet the food needs of these families by providing them with cash; and also to make available to them agricultural inputs and technical support enabling them to sustain themselves from February to July.

"This will help to improve the food security situation for these displaced people, but also for the host families who have taken them in," explains engineer Paul Muhasa.

He highlighted that according to surveys conducted, 80% of the households of displaced people do not have access to food; and the percentage of households with a poor food consumption score is estimated at 83%; and that at the CEPROMI center, 270 cases of global malnutrition have been recorded, including 27 severe cases among pregnant women.

Funded by the Humanitarian Fund of the DRC for a duration of 6 months, this project also aims to improve the emergency livelihoods of populations made vulnerable by the M23 security crisis in the health zone of Kibirizi, in the territory of Rutshuru.