28.8 Million People in DR Congo Face Severe Food Insecurity: IPC Alert Puts 10.4 Million in Three Eastern Provinces at Crisis Level or Above, Rising Toward 30.3 Million by Mid-2027
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed global food security monitor, issued its latest alert on October 30: roughly 28.8 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - 23 per cent of the population analysed - are forecast to experience high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) through December, and more than 3.6 million of them are in Phase 4 emergency conditions. The alert covers September 2026 through June 2027 and expects the situation to worsen slightly from January to June, when some 30.3 million people are projected to face Phase 3 or above, including 4.2 million in Phase 4.
North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri remain the hardest-hit provinces, with 10.4 million people in Phase 3 or above, while four territories within them - Djugu, Fizi, Shabunda and Walungu - are classified in Phase 4. Among those most affected are internally displaced persons, returnees, refugees and poor households. 'In eastern DRC, conflict and violence continue to drive displacement, disrupt livelihoods and restrict access to food and markets,' the alert said.
The alert was published against the backdrop of the country's record Ebola outbreak, which is about to enter its sixth month with more than 10,000 cases as of this week; the crisis first emerged in Ituri province and has now spread to eight provinces nationwide. Economic shocks, rising food and fuel prices, floods and other climate shocks, and the potential impacts of the El Niño weather pattern are compounding vulnerabilities. The IPC uses a five-phase scale to classify food insecurity, with Phase 5 being famine.
Related: Follow-Up: DR Congo Ebola Cases Pass 10,060 With 4,887 Deaths, the Country's Deadliest Outbreak
Source: GSM · USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：流离失所者在刚果（金）北基伍省戈马市郊扎营。MONUSCO Photos 摄，经 Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 2.0。 / Displaced people set up camp on the outskirts of Goma, North Kivu, DR Congo. Photo by MONUSCO Photos via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
