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World Food Programme may have to pause food aid in Congo due to record low funding

  //food-wine.news-articles.net/content/2025/11/07 .. food-aid-in-congo-due-to-record-low-funding.html
  Published in Food and Wine on Friday, November 7th 2025 at 7:30 GMT by reuters.com
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The Funding Gap

The WFP’s 2025 program budget was earmarked at $1.2 billion to reach roughly 9 million people across the country, according to the programme’s official financial brief. However, a recent audit revealed that only $780 million had been pledged, leaving a staggering $420 million deficit. This funding gap—larger than any seen since the DRC’s crisis began in 1996—has forced the agency to suspend all new food distribution operations across its three major delivery hubs in Kinshasa, Bukavu, and Goma.

“We were planning to deliver 2.5 million meals a day,” said WFP Deputy Spokesperson Lillian Mumba in a press briefing. “With the shortfall, we have no choice but to pause new distributions until we can secure the necessary funds.” Mumba added that the agency would continue to support a limited number of high‑risk households through its emergency response teams but would be unable to maintain its existing large‑scale feeding programmes.

Donor Fatigue and Political Context

The funding shortfall is largely attributed to what WFP officials describe as “donor fatigue” after a decade of continuous crises in the DRC. The United States, the European Union, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom—historically the largest contributors—have reduced their allocations by an average of 18% over the past three years. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) cited a lack of political will and competing global priorities as major factors in this retreat.

WFP’s internal analysis linked the pause to a combination of low donor confidence and the shifting political landscape in the United States. In Washington, the congressional budget committee’s recent rejection of a $10 million increase for the DRC aid package, citing a desire to reduce the overall UN budget, has had a ripple effect on other donor countries. Meanwhile, the EU’s new focus on climate change mitigation and internal cohesion measures has left humanitarian budgets lower than projected.

Implications for the Congolese Population

The immediate consequence of the pause is an expected sharp increase in hunger and malnutrition rates. The WFP’s latest assessment, released earlier this month, projected that over 5 million people—especially in eastern provinces that have been ravaged by fighting—will fall below the World Food Programme’s moderate hunger threshold of 50 kcal/kg if food aid is not reinstated. This projection includes both displaced persons and those living in rural areas where subsistence farming has been disrupted by both conflict and recent floods.

Local humanitarian actors have expressed grave concern. The Congolese NGO Action Against Hunger, which collaborates closely with WFP, warned that the pause could trigger a “massive humanitarian disaster” in the form of a famine in the Kasongo region, historically one of the most food‑insecure areas in the country. A senior spokesperson for the NGO stated, “We have already seen a 30% decline in crop yields last year due to unpredictable weather patterns and ongoing hostilities. Any interruption in external food aid will push thousands into starvation.”

The WFP’s Mitigation Measures

In an effort to mitigate the impact of the funding shortfall, WFP has announced a series of contingency plans. Firstly, it will reallocate $110 million from its high‑impact “Food for Work” program, which employs local communities in infrastructure projects, to provide emergency food vouchers to the most vulnerable households. Secondly, the agency is negotiating with the Congolese Ministry of Health and local NGOs to coordinate a targeted delivery of therapeutic food to children under five who are at risk of acute malnutrition.

Moreover, WFP’s finance director, Professor David Okoro, revealed that the agency has entered into a temporary financing agreement with the World Bank, allowing it to borrow up to $200 million at a concessional rate to cover the immediate deficit. “While this is not a permanent solution, it buys us time to rally donor support,” Okoro said. He also indicated that the WFP is working with the UN Development Programme to launch a “Global Food Security Fund” aimed at attracting private sector investment for sustainable agriculture projects in the DRC.

International Response

The announcement has prompted a swift response from international bodies. The UN Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres, in a statement released on the same day, called the funding gap “a grave threat to global food security” and urged donor nations to “act decisively and with urgency.” The European Union’s foreign affairs commissioner, Catherine Colonna, announced a 12‑month pledge of €250 million to help restore the programme, though this would still fall short of the total requirement.

The World Bank’s regional director, Sylvia Bintou, said the institution is ready to support the WFP’s short‑term financing needs, but emphasized that “long‑term solutions require a renewed commitment from the international community.” In Washington, the State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Food Security, Maria Hernandez, expressed support for the WFP’s efforts and highlighted the U.S. Treasury’s willingness to explore alternative funding mechanisms.

The Road Ahead

As the WFP navigates this funding crisis, the future of food security in the DRC hangs in a delicate balance. The agency’s pause in operations is a clear signal that the current humanitarian architecture is unsustainable without a substantive increase in funding. In the coming weeks, donor conferences and emergency appeals will be critical to reverse the current trajectory.

The situation underscores a broader trend of donor fatigue and shifting priorities that threatens to undermine progress in other high‑risk regions. The international community must recognise that funding the WFP’s programmes in the DRC is not merely a moral obligation—it is a strategic investment in preventing a humanitarian catastrophe that could have regional and global repercussions.

In the meantime, the Congolese population remains at the front lines of a crisis that is only just beginning to unfold. The pause in food aid is a stark reminder that even the most robust humanitarian systems can falter when the global funding engine slows. The world’s next steps will determine whether the DRC can weather this storm or if the crisis will intensify into a full‑blown famine.