Congo | World Food Programme

The Republic of Congo is a resource-rich, middle-income country that has the potential to end hunger by 2030.

A third of the population are food insecure, however, with recurring conflict and regional insecurity increasing levels of displacement.

More than 90 percent of arable land remains uncultivated, and agriculture is largely limited to subsistence crops – mainly cassava, bananas and peanuts. Domestic food production covers only 30 percent of the country’s needs, as the country mainly relies on food imports.

The northern part of Congo has faced recurrent, devastating floods, affecting up to 300,000 people each year by destroying homes, agricultural land and infrastructure. In late 2023, floods impacted approximately 1.8 million people, prompting the Government to declare a state of humanitarian emergency.

The country hosts over 65,000 refugees from the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are mainly settled in Likoula and Plateaux departments – two flood-affected areas with few livelihood opportunities – leaving them highly dependent on food assistance.

The World Food Programme (WFP)'s role is increasingly shifting from operational to advisory, through building government capacity in social protection – particularly school meals and other safety nets – climate change adaptation, emergency preparedness and crisis response.

What the World Food Programme is doing in Congo

Crisis response: WFP provides food or cash assistance and nutrition support to 195,000 vulnerable people, including refugees, returnees, flood-affected people and those people living in urban areas who have been affected by the economic consequences of COVID-19. Where appropriate, the assistance is combined with the creation or rehabilitation of assets – from roads to warehouses and storage units – that enhance the resilience of communities, families and individuals to shocks.
School meals: WFP provides daily, hot school meals to nearly 126,000 children in areas most affected by malnutrition. Food is increasingly sourced directly from smallholder farmers, providing them access to a stable local market and supporting local economies in rural areas. WFP assists around 6,500 Indigenous children enrolled in ‘ORA’ (Observer, Réfléchir, Agir) schools in the remote Likouala and Sangha provinces, with school meals increasing attendance and access to a valuable education.
Building of national capacities: WFP supports the Government in the design and implementation of the National School Feeding Policy. We work with the Government and other UN agencies to ensure social protection interventions are effective and inclusive of the most marginalized populations such as Indigenous Peoples. WFP supports the Government in developing targeted climate services.
Support for smallholder farmers: WFP has provided over 2,000 smallholder farmers, including over 1,100 women, with technical support and training to increase their food production, storage and transport to markets. WFP works to empower and help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change through, for example, training on climate-smart agricultural techniques.
Logistics support: WFP provides UN agencies, the Government and other partners with on-demand supply chain services. This includes the procurement and management of vehicles, transportation of staff, distribution of non-food-items and warehousing, so they can assist vulnerable families.