LUBERO, Democratic Republic of Congo – Southern Lubero was once considered a fertile territory – despite its poverty and political instability. Now, this time bread mouth faces famine, a brutal heritage and omnipresent of the brutal conflict between the DRC army and the M23 armed group sponsored by Rwanda.
Access to the fields has become dangerously difficult. The food crisis, already critical in other areas, is unprecedented.
Kanyere Muliwavyo, 70, fled several attacks on the west coast of Lake Edward. It now depends on the charity of its neighbors in Kirumba to feed its six grandchildren, whose parents abandoned them.
“It is the spicy smell of rotten soy, corn and beans that welcomed me in my field,” she said about her return. “Even if we are a little safer here than before, hunger never leaves us. It is so difficult to endure the incessant crying of hungry children.”
Recurring clashes have forced thousands of residents from Lubero to abandon their villages, their homes and their farms. Access to certain fields is downright prohibited; Others are riddled with unspecified ammunition.
The fields remain uncultivated for fear of brutal reprisals, exacerbating a desperate humanitarian situation, and violence has shaken many organizations which formerly supported the agricultural sector.
Ten million people in the Eastern provinces face acute food insecurity due to the conflict, according to the World Food Program.
“War had a devastating negative impact on agriculture by preventing access to fertile land,” explains Jacques Kasereka Busu, in charge of agricultural activities in Apetamaco, a non -profit organization that helps people develop their professions. “We find it difficult to continue our activities.”
The consequences are particularly disastrous for children. Malnutrition compromises their physical and intellectual development, making them dangerously sensitive to disease, explains Charlotte Katungu Sivunavirwa, a Nutritionist at Kasando Health Center in Kirumba. Dozens of children she saw, including small babies, have shown severe weight loss or signs of acute malnutrition.
“Without urgent and lasting food aid – and above all, the end of this conflict – we risk losing an entire generation,” she says. “War not only kills with weapons. It kills so slowly, insidiously, by hunger.”
“War not only kills with weapons. It kills so slowly, insidiously, by hunger.”Nutritionist at Kasando Health Center in Kirumba
In the midst of despair, families try to help each other. They also try to restart agricultural activities – as soon as security allows. The call for peace is unanimous.
The DRC army has set up a camp in the bean field of Anita Kavugho Sikulivalama and let its harvest rot. Now she has trouble feeding five children.
When the army left, she wanted to cultivate the ground but had no seeds. She managed to sow the potatoes, but when the M23 clashed with nearby Wazalendo self -defense groups, also.
“There are some,” she said, breaking the voice, “no freedom.”
