Livelihoods, basic services and social protection in Democratic Republic of the Congo

The people in DRC have suffered enormous loss of life and livelihoods due to almost two decades of war and insecurity. This paper undertakes a critical review of existing evidence on livelihoods and the delivery of basic services and social protection interventions in DRC.

The paper notes that agriculture is seen as the main opportunity for increasing the standard of life of most Congolese, yet most agricultural activity is aimed at subsistence, and the sector suffers the consequences of conflict and lack of investment. Furthermore, artisanal mining forms an alternative livelihood strategy, but the involvement of armed groups has exploited the sector and complicated matters by using the mining revenues to sustain levels of insecurity and exploitation. However, small-scale cross-border trade continues to flourish with a great number of people benefiting from the high levels of economic growth attained by neighbouring countries.

Findings are that:

• a large part of the population in DRC remains food insecure, dependent on food aid, and the country as a whole has a food deficit
• basic services, notably health, education, water and sanitation, and transport, are all considered fragile and insufficient
• strong customary powers and religious institutions are particularly important in upholding large gender inequalities and reproducing unfair gender norms
• with regards to data availability and quality, the reliability of official figures is questionable, yet there are few alternatives

The document concludes that there is much scope for research in DRC, emphasising that research on infrastructure and transport sectors is still limited and there is poor focus on local needs. Moreover, there is ultimately a great deal still to be done in order to connect different parts of the country to each other and the surrounding countries, and to make an impact on economic and livelihood development.