DR Congo: 500,000 more people face food emergency
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Beto
Illustrative image · Şeyhmus Kino · Pexels · Licence PexelsFood insecurity has worsened in eastern DR Congo, where an additional 500,000 people are now classified as being in the emergency phase, according to the British embassy. The London-funded SAFER consortium provides cash transfers, food, water and sanitation services, among other aid, according to its quarterly bulletin.
The British embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced that an additional 500,000 people in the east of the country were now in the food emergency phase, classified as IPC 4. It said that the London-funded SAFER consortium was providing them with cash transfers, food, water, hygiene and sanitation services, as well as protection, according to its 2 November message.
SAFER brings together Mercy Corps, ACTED, Concern Worldwide, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Solidarités International. Between July and September, its monitoring tools recorded 78 displacements in 25 territories, affecting nearly 277,461 households. During the same period, the consortium says it assisted 230,375 people, including 204,309 who received financial assistance.
The latest IPC analysis published for the DRC, dated 12 May 2026 and covering January to June, recorded 26.5 million people facing acute food insecurity, including more than 3.6 million in the emergency phase. The 500,000 people announced by the embassy represent about one-seventh of that latest national total.
The British announcement comes after the publication of reports stating that 28.8 million Congolese faced acute hunger on 30 October, followed by 28.8 million people threatened by acute hunger on 31 October.
