The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned it may have to pause food aid in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by February 2026 unless urgent funding is secured.
According to country director Cynthia Jones, the DRC operation has received roughly US $150 million this year far short of the US $350 million needed to sustain life-saving assistance in the region.
More than 3.2 million people in eastern DRC are facing emergency levels of acute food insecurity and malnutrition, amid intensifying conflict in the region. Previously, WFP was reaching about 1 million people per month in the region; funding constraints have forced the agency to cut back to around 600,000 per month.
Jones warned:
“If we were to continue reaching 600,000 people per month, we would break completely by February, March. That’s the reality. That’s how dire the situation is.”
The region has endured more than a year of fighting, including a major offensive earlier this year by the M23 rebel group in South Kivu province, where they seized more territory than ever before. Both M23 and the DRC’s armed forces have been accused of atrocities.
In recent years, the DRC operation of WFP received up to US $600 million in donor funding. In 2024 the amount stood at about US $380 million underscoring the sharp drop in contributions this year.
Humanitarian agencies, including WFP, say they have been hit by major cuts in U.S. and European foreign aid budgets, as donor governments shift spending towards defence and away from overseas assistance.
The looming pause in food aid risks deepening an already catastrophic hunger crisis in the region. The reduction of assistance undermines efforts to meet immediate needs and threatens to destabilize broader humanitarian and security conditions.