By Oscar Nkala
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN-FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have launched a new programme to help families that include returning former refugees rebuild their lives around agriculture in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The 35 million euro project, which seeks to empower women farmers and support peace-building initiatives in the war-torn North and South Kivu areas of the eastern DRC, will be funded through a donation from the German government.
The two UN agencies will offer assistance that includes, farmer training, micro-financing for farming projects as well as numeracy, literacy, conflict-prevention and economic empowerment planning for women.
The farmers will also benefit from enhanced access to produce markets, training in sustainable agricultural productivity, post-harvest management and access to the agro-processing and marketing value chains.
FAO Acting Representative for the DR Congo Alexis Bonte hailed the initiative as a potential life-changer for the returning refugee families.
“The combined economic, social, technical and financial capacity building approach sets this initiative apart. The WFP and FAO are able to join forces to revive the local economy and the food production of small-scale farmers,” he said.
The project is expected to benefit an estimated 180 000 people in the North and South Kivu provinces of the eastern DR Congo. Previously known as the breadbasket of the Congo on account its agricultural productivity, the Kivu area has been laid to waste by a cycle of devastating civil wars since the 1990s.
