Insecurity Insight monitors conflict events contributing to food insecurity in the DRC as part of its conflict and hunger project. Our in-depth report examines food-related violence in Ituri and North Kivu provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between 1 July 2023 and 31 July 2024. The report highlights how systemic violence against farmers, pastoralists, fishers and merchants in eastern DRC has driven millions of people into a state of chronic food insecurity. The persistent use of roadblocks and the looting of food by armed groups suggest that violence targeting food security is a deliberate tactic combining economic and strategic motives. Data covering the same period is accessible for download here.
Additionally, Insecurity Insight has published a shorter more recent briefing documenting food-related violence in North Kivu and Ituri provinces between August 2024 and January 2025 which is accessible here.
Food security and conflict-related sexual violence
Food-related livelihood activities such as tending fields, foraging for food or fetching water can also make women and girls vulnerable to conflict-related sexual violence attacks in conflicts where conflict parties use such violence. This report examines 81 examples of sexual violence committed by conflict parties across Africa, including the DRC, the Middle East and Asia between January 2020 and January 2023 to better understand the complex links between conflict-related sexual violence and food insecurity.