On-time start of the 2021/2022 A season in the northeast and central-east of the country

After below-average crop production during the previous year’s agricultural campaign, favorable agroclimatology conditions are forecasted for the 2021/2022 agricultural season. Field preparation is underway, and farmers have started sowing main crops. COVID-19 restrictions affecting the import of agricultural inputs and insecurity in conflict zones, farmers face difficulty accessing seeds and farmland; agricultural production for the current farming campaign is likely to be below average.

Since early September 2021, COVID-19 infection cases have been declining. According to the Ministry of Health, the number of new COVID-19 infections has decreased from 50 to 20 cases per day, and the rate of positive tests from 3 percent to 1.9 percent. As a result, the government has been able to ease the restrictions imposed to reduce the spread of the virus and thus promote the economic recovery of the informal sector, a sector dominated mainly by poor households.

The humanitarian situation in the eastern part of the country continues to be of concern due to armed and inter-communal conflicts, causing large waves of population displacement. Additionally, there is a cholera epidemic in Tanganyika (281 cases as of September 24) and South Kivu provinces (90 cases as of September 10), and another meningitis epidemic is ongoing in Tshopo province, where more than 608 cases have been recorded as of September 20. With these outbreaks occurring in the middle of the agricultural season, there is the potential to negatively impact households' ability to earn income and produce food.

In Tanganyika, Lomami, Sankuru, Kasai Oriental, Kasai, Maniema, and the former Katanga provinces, households with minimal to adequate food consumption face Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes. On the other hand, the conflict zones in the east of the country experiencing the effects of protracted conflict will remain in Crisis (IPC Phase 3); these include Ituri, South Kivu (Uvira, Fizi), and the rest of North Kivu. Finally, the provinces of Haut-Uele, Bas-Uélé, and Tshopo, which have not experienced significant shocks, will remain Minimal (Phase 1).