By olivier ciza | PROJECT LEADER
SAVE LIFE MAKE DIFFERENCE
Bujumbura Burundi
savelifemakedifference@gmail.com
Project report
EMERGENCY APPEAL
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), 24.8 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo — roughly 21% of the population — face high levels of acute food insecurity, driven by conflict, inadequate basic infrastructure and economicshocks, a situation that is projected to worsen in the coming year.
All six territories in Kasai Central Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are currently classified as IPC phase 3: households are reducing the number of meals, withdrawing children from school, resorting to early marriage and selling off property and other assets.
Many people in Kazumba territory faced severe food insecurity crisis in an aftermath of the 2015-2017 Kamuina Nsapu conflict that also resulted in displacement, loss of livelihoods and unresolved land disputes, all of which impeded agricultural recovery. Poor infrastructure and market isolation, compounded by harmful gender norms and ongoing health crises, have weakened the community’s resilience.
Alongside Hope is managing an emergency food assistance project with funding from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Government of Canada. The project budget is $1,081,568. We are grateful to the three other Foodgrains Bank members who contributed their equity orGlobal Affairs Canada allocations to make this project possible: Mennonite Central Committee of Canada ($30,000 equity); World Renew ($35,000 equity), and the United Church of Canada ($325,000 Global Affairs allocation).
This project is being implemented in Musuasua and Miao Secteurs of Kazumba Territory, Kasai Central Province in the DRC. Church World Service, the implementing partner for this project, has staff based in Kananga, the provincial headquarters. The other staff (agriculturalist and community mobilizers) are based in Kazumba, living in the partner communities. The country staff are hosted by the local partner organizations and are supported by the regional staff based in Nairobi.
The same family pictured above is shown having a meal, purchased with the cash they received.
CWS has partnered with the Trust Merchant Bank for transferring physical cash to the most food insecure households. Mobile cash transfer was not feasible due to lack of internet access in these remote communities. The project is providing physical cash transfer in the Congolese Franc equivalent to $21 per person (for up to nine individuals per household) per month for four months of the lean season.
As of November 12, 2025 two monthly transfers have been successfully completed. A total of 10,094 people from 1,571 households (1,108 female-headed households and 463 male-headed households comprising 2,198 women, 2,181 men, 2,612 girls and 3,101 boys) are participating in this project, using the cash to buy food from the local vendors.
At the beginning of the project, four local advisory committees — made up of 21 women and 20 men — were trained on the project objectives and details. They learned about gender inclusion, how to handle complaints and feedback, how to prevent sexual exploitation and harassment and project monitoring. The advisory committees have played a key role in selecting participants and are actively engaged in the cash distribution, managing help desks for complaint handling and monitoring.
CWS staff organized a one-day refresher workshop for the advisory committee members after the first monthly distribution to discuss and reflect on the cash distribution process, including feedback and complaint handling, and planning future distributions.
Planting seeds
The project participants were provided with a two-day training session in vegetable production in four locations. These workshops were facilitated by two CWS staff and a staff member from the provincial agriculture department. Similarly, two-day nutrition and gender workshops were conducted in four locations, facilitated by two CWS staff and a staff member from the health zone of Bilomba. Seeds of amaranth, okra, eggplant and Chinese cabbage (a total of 40 gm per household) were distributed to all participating households.
Local support
CWS maintains very good relations with the provincial government of Kasaî Central. CWS has already held several meetings with provincial authorities, including the governor, the vice-governor, the minister of agriculture, the minister of planning and the Kazumba territory administrator. CWS is recognized as an active member of the DRC food security cluster.
This project is a part of a three-year initiative on triple nexus, that weaves together the humanitarian relief with agriculture and livelihoods recovery as well as peacebuilding in the partner communities for a long-lasting positive impact. Building on the experience, CWS is currently designing a triple nexus plan in partnership with two local partner organizations and the communities.
SAVE LIFE MAKE DIFFERENCE since we start our project $2,986 raised of $25,000 goal
SAVE LIFE MAKE DIFFERENCE
Bujumbura Burundi 24/02/2026
savelifemakedifference@gmail.com
By olivier ciza | PROJECT LEADER
By OLIVIER | Project Leader
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