Crisis and food security profile: Democratic Republic of the Congo

The case of eastern DRC reveals that protracted crises can cause considerable shifts in local food systems. One particular factor that has affected local food systems is the emergence of new patterns of politico-military control, which have in turn generated new patterns of inequality between grassroots populations and powerful (politico-military and economic) elites. The gradual implosion of the Congolese state has fostered new, parallel governance structures that function next to the formal state apparatus. Armed actors have used their military and economic strength to build themselves a profitable niche in the regional political economy, to replace traditional trading mechanisms by “military commercialism” and to monopolize trade and access to local assets. While businessmen and political elites have sometimes benefited from the opportunities of this new institutional context, most households were forced to re-negotiate their access and entitlement to vital economic assets. These new conditions have forced most households to invest in alternative strategies of survival. This explains why in several regions agricultural production has lost its importance to the advantage of mining or fishing activities; it also explains why some food-producing regions have become food importing areas during the war. These shifts in local food systems have attracted little attention from humanitarian agencies. This can be explained by the fact that most responses to food insecurity are based on humanitarian considerations and short-term perspectives, and do not address root causes of conflict, such as the structural roots of inequality, poverty and food insecurity.