(3 minutes read)
· The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ) has given US$ 54 million for development works in
DRC
· The four-year program (2020 – 2023) focused on over 180,000
rural people– most of them smallholder farmers – in Walikale
territory in North Kivu and Mwenga and Walungu territories in South
Kivu has been launched the other day.
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ), through the German Development Bank KfW, has contributed EUR 50
million (US$54 million) to a resilience building program to be
implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in the east of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The four-year program (2020 – 2023) focused on over 180,000 rural
people– most of them smallholder farmers – in Walikale territory in
North Kivu and Mwenga and Walungu territories in South Kivu has been
launched the other day. The project will enable farmers to strengthen
their agricultural production and post-harvest management, diversify
their income generating activities, and improve nutrition and basic
social services, which can lead to peace and stability in the
region.
DRC is one of the most fertile countries and the second-largest
cultivable area in the world after Brazil. There are abundant water
resources. Despite these natural endowments, the area remains largely
unexploited. The region is one of the poorest countries in the world.
Also, its social fabric is challenged due to decades of conflict,
displacement and recurring agricultural and climate shocks. Local
warlords take advantage of the situation for perpetrating animosity.
They also enroll young people in the armed groups.
WFP will support commodity aggregation, post-harvest handling and
storage, marketing and nutrition, while FAO helps protect and restore
people’s agriculture-based livelihood by supporting community farmer
organizations in food production and processing, seed protection, as
well as social cohesion. UNICEF, another UN organization, will
address severe malnutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
and will promote education for peace building at all levels, with a
focus on women and children. The project was launched on 4th March in
Goma and on 6th March in Bukavu.
