Democratic Republic of the Congo Interim Country Strategic Plan (2018–2020)

ICSP approved at EB November 2017 session.

Revision 02 approved by the CD in May 2018.

Revision 03 approved by the RD in October 2018.

Revision 05 approved by the ED in November 2018.

Revision 06 approved by ED&DG-FAO in January 2020.

Revision 07 approved by the CD in June 2020.

Instability and insecurity remain major challenges in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country’s main macroeconomic indicators have trended downwards in recent years while the prevalence of food insecurity and malnutrition is high across much of the country. 

The deepening political crisis, intensifying ethnic tensions and expansion of conflict into new territories of the country have resulted in a protracted humanitarian crisis. The number of internally displaced persons increased from 1.6 million in January 2016 to 3.8 million in July 2017. In addition, the Democratic Republic of the Congo hosts about 468,000 refugees from neighbouring countries, and 475,000 of its nationals are refugees in other countries.

The scale of humanitarian needs is accelerating at an alarming rate: 7.7 million people are food-insecure, up from 5.9 million in 2016. While severe food insecurity continues to affect populations in the Kivu region and Tanganyika province, the majority of increased needs are the result of conflict and displacement in the provinces of Kasai and Kasai Central.

Estimated average daily energy consumption is less than 1,500 kcal per person per day – well below the threshold of 2,100 kcal. Malnutrition among children under 5 is high, with 43 percent stunting and 8 percent wasting. A cost of hunger study carried out in 2016 estimated that undernutrition cost 4.6 percent of gross domestic product, equivalent to USD 1.7 billion.

Constrained access to social services limits growth and well-being in the country; this is compounded by gender disparities. In 2016, the country ranked 176  of 188 countries on the Human Development Index, with women scoring 17 percentage points below men. The country also ranked 153 159 countries on the Gender Inequality Index.

Through this interim country strategic plan, WFP will focus on responding to large-scale displacement and other shocks while pursuing long-term recovery and resilience and addressing the underlying causes of food insecurity and malnutrition. WFP will collaborate with national actors and government institutions to continue to enhance their capacities in respect of disaster risk management and emergency preparedness. The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service and the provision of logistics services to the humanitarian community will be a central feature of WFP’s portfolio in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

• WFP aims to contribute to five strategic outcomes under the interim country strategic plan:
• Strategic outcome 1: Targeted food-insecure populations affected by shocks are able to meet their basic food requirements in times of crisis.
• Strategic outcome 2: Food-insecure and vulnerable populations in conflict and shock-affected areas have improved nutritional status in line with national protocols by 2020. 
• Strategic outcome 3: Smallholder farmers and vulnerable communities in targeted and crisis-prone areas, especially in eastern parts of the country, enhance their productive livelihoods and improve their food security and resilience by 2020.
• Strategic outcome 4: National institutions have strengthened capacity to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition and respond to shocks by 2020.
• Strategic outcome 5: The humanitarian community has the capacity to respond to shocks through strategic partnerships by 2020.

The main stakeholders include the Government, on whose behalf the planned activities will be undertaken, and vulnerable and food-insecure individuals, who are the intended beneficiaries. Other actors include United Nations agencies, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the donor community, organizations fostering gender equality and women’s empowerment, non-governmental organizations and civil society. This interim country strategic plan operationalizes WFP’s Strategic Plan (2017–2021), contributing to strategic results 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8.

It is also consistent with the Government's draft national Five-Year Plan (2017–2021), which includes targets related to reducing hunger and malnutrition.