Field Visit Report: Humanitarian mission of the Heads of UN Agencies
to North and South Kivu and Oriental provinces
Prepared by: Ad Spijkers, FAOR D.R. Congo, Kinshasa
Duration: 23 – 27 June 2000
Places visited: Goma, Bukavu and Bunia
Summary: As described in the FAOR Annual report, March 2000, internal displacements are major factors disrupting agricultural activities in a country where an estimated 10 million people are living in conditions of food insecurity. Due to the conflicts and the de facto division of the DRC, the country’s internal trade has been hampered. As a result the growth in agriculture is stagnating and the growth rate in food production falls short in relation to the population growth. In this context and for the first time since the confrontation of August 1998, an inter-agency mission of 6 Heads of UN Agencies (UNDP,UNCHR, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO and FAO), all based in Kinshasa, visited the eastern part of the country. OCHA and the Officer in Charge of WFP participated too. Air transport for the visit as well as adequate briefing material was provided by OCHA. The OCHA office has been very instrumental and the helping hand in this by Mr Kassa and Mr Petrie is appreciated. The mission was mounted to obtain full cooperation in this part of the country too for the ‘Journées Nationales de Vaccination (JNV)’ jointly sponsored by UNICEF and WHO. Equally all UN agencies could obtain a first hand impression of the field activities in the East. The mission took note of the prevailing humanitarian situation affecting the population. A detailed report is attached in the Annex 11:‘Revue du plan d’action national par les chefs d’agences du système des Nations Unies’. I took this occasion to discuss with our staff and agricultural technicians FAO’s ongoing and future programs focussing on supporting families affected by the crisis. The political situation is complex, fluid and difficult in both Kivu provinces where not only the infrastructure has been neglected but also the social fabric has been heavily disturbed. Of paramount importance is that the local population yearns for peace and stabilityin order to build a normal life.
The two month long confrontation between the Rwandan and Ugandan troops in Kisangani (May – June 2000) took a heavy death toll among the civilian population of the area and further destabilized the already precarious humanitarian situation. Of particular concern is the food security situation in the town and its vicinity, which are almost entirely isolated from their traditional food supply roads. Currently the cease-fire regime installed in Kisangani is being enforced as a result of the UN Security Council’s firm stand. First needed supplies were provided, including by FAO. An inter-agency plan of action was developed in the aftermath of rescue operations to address the post-conflict recovery requirements.
FAO has antennas in Goma (N.Kivu) and in Bukavu (S.Kivu) for its emergency projects, coordinated the Special Relief Operations Service (TCOR). These are supervised by an international consultant in Goma. For practical purpose, the FAO consultant based in Kigali provides technical and logistical support which is appreciated by all concerned. It is planned -and discussed with the authorities in Bunia- that 1.500 tons of seeds will be sent to Ituri. Colleagues are well aware of the assistance provided by FAO’s international consultant Mr Alexis Bonte along with the dedicated FAO national staff in both provinces. The backstopping support provided by the FAO consultant Mr Francois Gascon has, according our interlocutors, been very helpful. The same is true for the logistics of FAOR’s office in Kigali to get the work done; a request was made by the staff for continuation. Other UN agencies have the same arrangement. It is important to underline that humanitarian and development assistance should be directed at filling people’s need and not at influencing the behavior of parties involved. In the middle of very difficult economic and political times for the population, the projects offer a ray of hope for a better future.
1. North Kivu and South Kivu
Over the last ten years the provinces are confronted with prolonged instability which has heavily influenced the social and economic life. There are no signs yet of a transition from a wartime to a peacetime economy. The provinces are suffering a wide variety of shortages of almost every thing: fuel, electricity, medicine, nutritious food, clothing, spare parts, etc. In the present climate the humanitarian aid agencies are facing operational constraints. Moreover the lack of access to areas near the frontline makes it impossible to estimate in an accurate way the number of people who have been displaced.
Many families are facing difficulties to meet their basic needs. Approximately 20 percent of the population can be considered to fall short of a minimum living standard and needs assistance. Productive areas are not linked with urban markets as roads and bridges are in a deplorable condition. The high transportation costs are fuelling the increased prices of foodstuff and consequently have a serious impact on the quality and quantity of the food intake of poor families in urban areas. The main reason for a stagnating agricultural production is the absence of imputs such as tools, seeds and plant protection. As a matter of fact in earlier days both provinces were well known for exporting agricultural and livestock produce to the capital and abroad. Without any intervention the high rate of malnutrition will exceed the capacity of the nutritional centers and will foster population displacements. The support to supplementary feeding as well as agriculture production will be necessary to prevent the crisis from deepening that in turn affects the stability of the Great lakes region as a whole.
Ongoing and pipeline projects are:
Most of these activities will be completed by February next year. And the following pipeline projects are proposed:
2. ITURI district (Oriental province)
The conflict is the main cause for the pauperisation of the people in Ituri ; moreover, climatic conditions have not been favourable. As a consequence, the population suffers food-shortages or does not have enough supply of inputs for its own production. In response, a co-ordinated intervention by several Agencies, each within its own mandate, is needed to assist the vulnerable groups.
While visiting Bunia (Ituri region/Province Orientale), we were able to transport nearly 100.000 doses of vaccines for animals under TCP/DRC/8821 ‘Campagne d’urgence de vaccination contre les maladies majeures’. In addition the details for the transport of 1.500 tons of seeds from Kinshasa will be worked out considering that in principal co-operation for this distribution has been promised on humanitarian grounds. The logistics are a matter of consultation with the MONUC (Mission de l’Organisation des Nations Unies en Republique democratique du Congo) and OCHA in Kinshasa and Goma. In Bunia we had a brief talk with some of the military personnel deployed by MONUC to explain our mission.
3. Support to the Coordination Unit in the East
FAO has qualified national experts. There is a good atmosphere of cooperation and mutual support. FAO‘s presence has been felt in the food security areas by providing inputs to families.The impact however is limited due to the absence of means. During the discussions with technicians in both provinces there was an overwhelming expression of a need for assistance and several requests were made.
An issue which was brought up and needs attention is the monitoring of the distribution of the agricultural seeds and tools. So far the imputs are going through a network of NGO‘s in charge of the distribution while the provincial inspection would like to make visits to the benificiers concerned. This point needs to be reviewed by the FAO staff, who is interested to work out a scenario and the FAO staff would welcome the possibilty to receive logistical support for the development of a system of field visits. There is not yet such a system in place. Related to this are the provision of radio communication and probably the replacement of the present vehicles.
Proposals are developped on new projects to keep FAO in the main stream of humanitarian intervention in the East. For the time being this is the best approach for assistance, preferably organised in synergy with other UN or NGO organisations. For the eastern part of the country, emphasis should be placed on on-going emergency supplies. The present set-up for our assistance is recommended to be kept for the time being as the situation in this part of the country is different compared to other provinces (sometimes the size of a country)2in eastern parts, depending on the local conditions where we can do more. Our institutional partners expressed willingness to cooperate and when we have more opportunities to make use of humanitarian flights from OCHA or MONUC the contacts can be enlarged.
The long term objectives in the agricultural and livestock sector in both provinces –according to the opinion of technicians, expressed in several meetings - should under the precondition of restored stability and peace be the following:
In the future when the conditions will permit, FAO could play a pioneering role in assisting the country. There is overwhelming feeling of isolation from the outside world and we were approached intensively by technicians seeking an FAO assitance. The first steps on cassava improvement in Bas Congo province (supported by AGPC and IPM Global Facility) could be of interest for this part of the country. Cassava in DR Congo is the key to the food security and there is a strong interest in promoting disease resistant varieties for the benefit of farmers On coffee, new activities could be added including old fields rejuvenation with 500 to 1000 ha per province and control measure against tracheomycose. For the eastern part of the country, emphasis should be placed on ongoing emergency projects while in other provinces in the west, other initiatives are possible as done by some bilataral and multilataral organisations.
Kinshasa, 14 July 2000
[1]Please contact
the FAOR for more information.
[2]DR Congo has in
total 11 provinces. Is has a narrow outlet to the sea and
it constitutes an area as large as Western Europe. The
country is 80 times the size of Belgium.
[3]A brief evaluation
of FAO sponsored activities is provided by the mid-term
review of the UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the
DRC, July 2000, OCHA Geneva.