The cost of essential food items has surged in Goma, the main city in eastern DRC, after it was captured by M23 rebels last week, Al Jazeera reports, citing local residents and humanitarian organizations.
Some prices have more than doubled, raising concerns about widespread hunger and malnutrition.
Anti-poverty NGO ActionAid reports that the soaring prices, combined with the ongoing displacement crisis, are pushing basic nutrition out of reach for many in the city. The organization warns that hundreds of thousands of people in Goma could face severe hunger as a result.
ActionAid staff collected data from three Goma markets – Virunga, Lenine, and Kituku – and found price increases on some food items, including flour, beans, and oil, ranging from 18 to 160 percent between January 25 and January 31.
On January 26, M23 rebels, allegedly backed by Rwanda, entered Goma and declared the city under their control. Sporadic fighting between the rebels and Congolese forces followed, disrupting essential services like electricity, water, and internet, and forcing businesses to close.
While power has been largely restored and food products are available, Goma residents have confirmed to Al Jazeera that the prices of several essential items have doubled or tripled since the takeover.
Even before the recent escalation, approximately one-quarter of DRC’s 25.5 million people were already experiencing “crisis” and “emergency” levels of food insecurity, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that over the next five months, 4.5 million children under the age of five, as well as 3.7 million pregnant and breastfeeding women, could face acute malnutrition across the DRC. The WFP has also warned about the potential for further displacement of “hundreds of thousands of people” already living in camps in eastern DRC.
These camps, already heavily reliant on humanitarian aid, have been further impacted by the fighting, which has disrupted the essential work of aid agencies and left tens of thousands without support.
Late on Monday, the M23 declared a ceasefire, stating that the rebels would pause their advance across eastern DRC “for humanitarian reasons.”
