So Rich, Yet So Poor: Food Insecurity in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

By Anonymous -


The African continent is home to the world’s largest reserves of natural resources.[1]The largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa is no different: The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has a dearth of natural resources and minerals. More than 50 percent of its geographical area is covered with dense forests.[2] The country is also home to one of the world’s largest deposits of diamonds, cobalt, gold, copper, and even oil! As expressed by the World Bank, “the DRC is widely considered to be the richest country in the world regarding natural resources; its untapped deposits of raw minerals are estimated to be worth in excess of 24 trillion USD”. [3] This begs the question then, why is the DRC so overwhelmingly poor? 73 percent; or more than 60 million people live under the poverty line. [4] 30 million of these suffer from malnutrition varying in severity. Furthermore, the spread of diseases such as Malaria, Cholera, Tuberculosis, Ebola, and HIV/AIDS results in numerous fatalities.[5] Thus, even if the country is materially rich, it suffers immensely due to its poor economy.


Source- https://www.rawrough.com/democratic-republic-diamond-production


This post will analyze DRC’s key issues by dividing them into 5 parts. 1. Economic Development; 2. Violence and Rebuilding; 3. Child Soldiers; 4. Gender Based Sexual Violence; 5. Health. The DRC has an abundance of natural and human resources but suffers because of an extremely low GDP per capita of 600$, resulting in massive underutilization of its natural wealth. Moreover, there is a serious lack of education and healthcare infrastructure which bars citizens from getting employed in sectors that require skilled labor. This greatly affects their chances of getting decent jobs. Long decades of violence and war have claimed numerous lives.  Violence has been widespread since the Rwanda Genocide in 1994, the influx of refugees from surrounding countries has resulted in the creation of numerous armed groups throughout the country. More than 3 million people have died and many more displaced as a result of this armed conflict.[6]  The government has taken efforts to end the violence but they are yet to bear fruit. Thousands of child soldiers continue to be used by militias. Neither the government, nor the NGOs have enough resources or funds to tackle this issue. Cross-border altercations between militias often end up targeting the women and children, resulting in rape, mutilation, and sexual violence.[7]  All these issues come together and act as severe barriers to the growth and redevelopment of Congo Kinshasa (DRC).

Not many would consider all the above-mentioned problems as security issues. Generally, only the issues concerning violence and child soldiers would be considered as security issues. Upon deeper thought, aren’t issues of health and violence related to the security of an individual? Afterall, health security and job security are as important as issues of military security. The difference lies in the fact that one of them focuses on the security of a single subject while the other focuses on the security of a society. That is, one of them can be branded as an issue of national security whereas the other can be discarded as an unimportant incident. In any case, security inherently falls under the gambit of the ruling authority; that is, the government. Consequently, it becomes essential that the government acknowledge the issue as a security issue for concrete actions to take place. Now, it all comes down to how the sentences and words have been framed, in order to convince the ruling authority that this is indeed a security issue. This is roughly what Wæver suggests while theorizing about the “security act”.[8] The moment when a government utters the words ‘security issue’, it necessarily gains martial law-like powers. Although it may be beneficial in certain situations, but it surely plays against the public as basic liberties may be curtailed. In the DRC’s case, it is because that the issues were framed and accepted as security issues that multiple governments and NGOs from the world over decided to get involved. As we know, health security, in terms of a major disease outbreak is not only a security issue for the host country, but it could also develop into a global health security problem.


Source- https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-supports-government-democratic-republic-congo-continuing-immunization-north


Food security: rather food insecurity in DRC can be studied relatively.[9] If it were put into the categorization of threat object and referent object, the referent object would be the people, societies, and individuals of the DRC. It is their security that is most important. The threat object would be death by disease and violence via unhygienic conditions or the militia respectively. State-sponsored actors, governments, individuals, INGOs are the ones that came forward to offer aid and help. Moreover, the purpose of the people was mere survival. They strived to be secure from malnutrition, starvation, and infection. This bifurcation makes it easier to implement the work of another scholar, Robert Cox. According to his framework for action[10], he names three forces that are essential for constructive changes to take place- Ideas, material capabilities and institutions. In the case of the DRC, the state and non-state actors’ idea to improve the condition of the people, the material capabilities provided by nation states coupled with institutions such as the CDC, FAO, and the UN, all came together to initiate the redevelopment process. Although it is far from being a success, the goal is closer to reality than it was in 1994.

 

 


[1] Al Jazeera. “Mapping Africa's Natural Resources.” Maps News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 20 Feb. 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/2/20/mapping-africas-natural-resources.

[2] Lemarchand, Rene. “Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/place/Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo.

[3] “Democratic Republic of the Congo: Economy.” >> GlobalEDGE: Your Source for Global Business Knowledge, https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/economy.

[4] “Overview.” World Bank, 27 Oct. 2021, https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc/overview#1.

[5] “Democratic Republic of Congo - CDC Center for Global Health.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 May 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/countries/drc/default.htm.

 

[6] “Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo | Global Conflict Tracker.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 4 Feb. 2022, https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo.

[7] “UN Official Calls DR Congo 'Rape Capital of the World'.” BBC News, BBC, 28 Apr. 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8650112.stm.

[8] Wæver, O (1995) Securitization and desecuritisation. In: Lipschutz, RD (ed.) On Security. New York: Columbia University Press, 46–86.

[9] Krause, Keith, and Michael Williams. “Security and ‘Security Studies.’” The Oxford Handbook of International Security, 2018, pp. 13–28., https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198777854.013.2.

[10] Cox, Robert W. “Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond International Relations Theory.” Millennium: Journal of International Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 1981, pp. 126–155., https://doi.org/10.1177/03058298810100020501.

 



Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2022 at 10:51 PM

    You have very well summarized the issue of food insecurity in DRC via relativity of security framework, Robert Cox's critical approach to security and Securitization theory. You also talked about all the stakeholders involved and causes of food insecurity. I really enjoyed the interlinkages drawn among causes and impacts of food insecurity. But I have a question regarding the Critical approach to security. Critical security studies seeks the solution for a security issue by altering the structure (in which the problem lies) itself. What are your views on this?
    I think DRC's domestic socio-economic and political structures (Dictatorship & exploitative government) & International neo-liberal structures that imposed the capitalist economic system ( a form of neo-imperialism) over DRC to exploit their natural resources and keep them underdeveloped and dependent are largely responsible for causing food insecurity in DRC. How can we deal with this issue through Critical security studies approach ?

    ReplyDelete

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