Congolese farmers providing food aid to refugees in their region

Vredeseilanden and the food aid unity of the Belgian Development Cooperation DGDC work hand in hand in order to further develop the economic position of farmers and women farmers in the Congolese province of North Kivu. Together they try to achieve that these farmers are allowed to deliver food to the UN World Food Programme.

In the region of North Kivu that is suffering from political unrest, it is difficult for farmers to commercialize their agricultural activities. Amidst the violence, they have been victimized twice. The first time because the military and social conflict caused a dramatic fall in their standards of living. The second time because farmers and women farmers had difficulties in selling their products on the markets.

The local purchase of food aid can offer solutions

The DGDC had a study carried out into the purchase of possibilities in the region. The study revealed great opportunities for local farmers. Members of the DGDC, VECO Congo en de VECO Head office traveled to Rome to the head-quarters of the World Food Programme in Rome in order to plead the advantages of local pur-chases.

“With the World Food Programme now purchasing local food too, we continue to play a social and economic role as farmers”, says Muhindo Bunambo (right on the picture above) of the farmer organization Coocenki, who manages the store where maize and beans are brought to. Since many years, Coocenki and Vredeseilanden have a strong partnership. “The first delivery of 150 tons of maize meal meant a big organizational challenge. Bring together the maize of many small farmers is one thing, mill it is the next obstacle. There are hardly any solid and big engines available. But with a lot of hard work, we succeeded in meeting the delivery.”

Milling the maize

The biggest technical problem is having the maize milled. The DGCD agreed to tackle this issue and to fund two new mills. As a consequence, the price for milling maize will fall in the entire province, and so will the price on the local market. The draining of marshland is also planned and the construction of a number of roads will be backed. A good infrastructure is still a big problem for the farmers in Kivu, because they need roads to bring their products to town in order to sell them.

As a result of the development of these commercial activities, Muhindo and other farmers were able to increase their income. Up to this moment (February 2009), 790 tons of beans and 351 tons of maize meal have been delivered to the World Food Programme. The two farmer organi-sations involved, Coocenki and Sydip have 24199 members. These farmers show that a better future for the plagued Kivu-region is possible.

Joint lobby

Thanks to the joint lobby efforts of Vredeseilanden and the Belgian and Swedish diplomacy, new directives in favor of local food purchases have been adopted within the World food Programme. The WFP intends to deploy more staff for food purchases in developing countries and will cooperate more closely with the food and agriculture agencies of the UN.