Planting seeds today, feeding families today and tomorrow

“We fled Kiliba and came here because of the war” explains Marcel Ngoy Wakubalwa, a 77-year-old farmer displaced from South Kivu.  

In January 2025, the resurgence of armed violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo forced thousands of people to flee their homes. Many sought safety in the neighboring province of Tanganyika, where provincial authorities and humanitarian organizations helped them settle in displacements sites. 

Host communities in nearby villages shared their water sources, offered shelter to some families and provided plots of land for displaced households to cultivate. Yet for many families, the journey to safety came at a devastating cost. 

“When we fled, we walked for more than two weeks. During our journey, we suffered immensely and arrived here with nothing. Everything we owned, including our clothes, we sold along the way to buy food” says Marcel who arrived at the Mama Kasanga site in January 2026 with his eight children.  

Welcomed by the village chief, Marcel and his children built two rudimentary shelters from branches. Marcel, who lost a hand several years ago while defending himself against an elephant attack, is disabled, facing significant challenges to care for his large family.  

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is supporting Marcel through funding from the Democratic Republic of the Congo Humanitarian Fund. The assistance combines unconditional cash transfers with short-cycle agricultural kits containing vegetable seeds and tools, allowing families to meet urgent needs while restarting food production. 

^{Marcel Ngoy Wakubalwa is preparing the plot of land he has rented for cultivation near the Mama Kasanga displacement site. ©FAO/Ibrahim Rivild.}

“The assistance provided by FAO has given us the strength to work for our survival”, says Marcel.  

In Tanganyika, FAO rapidly provided emergency agricultural support to thousands of displaced people, as well as to vulnerable host communities who generously shared their limited resources with those forced to flee. 

“I used some of the money we were given to rent a plot of land to cultivate. Now, I can plant the seeds we received to produce enough food for my family and me”, explains Marcel.  

Local extension workers provide technical guidance to help families improve their yields. The vegetables can be harvested within a few weeks, enabling households to access nutritious food quickly and diversify their diets. 

“If I plant these vegetable seeds using the techniques we were taught, I can harvest my first crops within 21 days”, says Marcel. “I will also be able to sell part of the harvest to help pay for my children’s school fees.”  

To deliver this assistance, FAO partners with national and local non-governmental organizations, strengthening their operational capacities while supporting a locally led humanitarian response. People like Marcel participate in groups of 20, working together on demonstration plots and nurseries. These groups foster mutual support and social cohesion while helping ensure that people with disabilities can participate fully and benefit equally.  

^{Marcel Ngoy Wakubalwa, vice-president of the group of people with disabilities at the Mama Kasanga displacement site, together with the other group members. ©FAO/Ibrahim Rivild.}

Just months after arriving with nothing, Marcel is once again cultivating a plot of land and preparing for his first harvest. For thousands of displaced families in Tanganyika, emergency agricultural assistance is providing more than seeds and tools: it helps them put nutritious food on the table, keep their children in school and rebuild their livelihoods – restoring dignity, strengthening self-reliance and helping families look towards a more secure future.