USAID provides food assistance to 1.6M vulnerable people affected by conflict in DRC

U.S. Ambassador James Swan (second left) handed a symbol of U.S. food assistance to WFP Country Representative Pablo Recalde.
On March 24, at a WFP warehouse in Goma, U.S. Ambassador James Swan (second left) handed a symbol of U.S. food assistance to WFP Country Representative Pablo Recalde. Vice Governor Feller Lutahichirwa accepted it on behalf of the people of North Kivu.
Photo by Kaukab Jhumra Smith/USAID

Half of $43M contribution will procure food from local and regional sources

For Immediate Release

Friday, March 25, 2016
Kaukab Smith
+243 81 555 4546

GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded $42.75 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), contributing to food assistance for more than 1.6 million vulnerable people in conflict-affected parts of the country.

Half this contribution is earmarked for local and regional food procurement, which will support local economies and stimulate regional agricultural markets. The other half will be used to procure food commodities in the U.S. or other international markets at favorable prices.

USAID’s contribution will allow WFP to continue its relief and recovery operations in the eastern and southern provinces of the DRC, including the most hard-to-reach areas affected by conflict and mass internal displacements.

USAID is the most important financial partner of WFP, a United Nations agency engaged in the fight against hunger in the DRC. Between 2011 and 2015, USAID provided approximately $221 million to WFP in the DRC, contributing to WFP’s emergency assistance to more than 14 million vulnerable people in that period.