Reference Date: 22-May-2025

Cereal production affected by increased violence and population displacements in 2024

In northern and central regions, the harvest of the 2024 main season maize crops was completed last January, while it finalized at the end of February in southern provinces. In bimodal central provinces, harvesting of the 2024 secondary season maize crop started in mid-March. The ongoing conflict, which started in Kivu region and worsened at the end of January 2025 due to intensified fighting by the M23 movement, has led to increased displacement of the local population and several farmers have been forced to leave their land, with consequent disruption of agricultural activities. While the conflict is currently concentrated in the eastern region of the country, it may escalate and have a negative impact also on other areas, further affecting cereal production, particularly the 2025 secondary season maize crop. Overall, the conflict is likely to continue disrupting agricultural activities in Kivu region by limiting farmers’ access to inputs and markets.

Prices of locally produced maize and imported rice at high levels in early 2025

Prices of locally produced maize and imported staple foods remain high in 2025 due to limited availability in local markets, driven by reduced imports and high transport costs, mainly caused by the ongoing conflict. According to the National Central Bank, the inflation rate decreased to 12.5 percent in 2024 compared to 24 percent in 2023, which was due to the continuous depreciation of the national currency.

Over 27 million people estimated to be severely acute food insecure in 2025

According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, published in March, about 27.7 million people (22 percent of the analyzed population) were projected to face IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or worse levels of acute food insecurity between January and June 2025, including 3.9 million people facing IPC Phase 4 (Emergency).

The ongoing conflict in Kivu region continues to drive large-scale displacements and to affect agricultural production and markets, worsening the already critical levels of acute food insecurity. The high food prices, coupled with limited employment opportunities, have substantially reduced households’ purchasing power, especially in urban areas, including in Kinshasa region, where most households rely on markets to access food.

Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

This brief was prepared using the following data/tools:
FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance Sheet (CCBS) https://www.fao.org/giews/data-tools/en/ .

FAO/GIEWS Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Tool https://fpma.fao.org/ .

FAO/GIEWS Earth Observation for Crop Monitoring https://www.fao.org/giews/earthobservation/ .

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) https://www.ipcinfo.org/ .