Farmers return to Congo farmland amid uncertain realities

According to the International Organization for Migration, 1.2 million people fled their homes in North and South Kivu provinces since January, as fighting between the Congolese army and the invading M23 rebels intensified.

The report also mentions that during the same period, approximately 1.8 million individuals, or more than 350,000 households, had returned to their previously deserted homes.

Many had few options after M23 razed the displacement camps after taking Goma, eastern Congo’s main city, in late January.

As the fighting waged on, M23 forced forced Congolese to return to their homes, which some farmers did, including Ndagijimana Ntaboba, 48, a vegetable farmer in the town of Kibumba.

What he discovered was the odd situation of another family cultivating his farmland. He had to give the family around $600 for the harvest, as reported by Reuters.

Kibumba, located about 25 kilometers north of Goma on National Road 2, is well-known for its lush fields of cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, and beets, which supply Goma and the surrounding cities and villages.

“We spent three years living in very poor conditions. It was a great suffering. We went hungry for days,” Ntaboba told Reuters of his time in Kanyaruchinya.

“The situation for them is very precarious, because they are not getting much help,” Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Reuters after speaking to families in the region.

“I was struck by how happy they were to have returned,” he added, though it often was not voluntary.

“They said no, we were forced out of the camps. We had 48 to 72 hours to return home.”

In January, M23 rebels claimed they had captured Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, following a swift advance that forced thousands to flee and raised fears of a broader regional conflict.

The conflict waged by M23 in the eastern DRC cities of Goma and Bukavu raised fears of a bigger regional war.

The DRC, together with the US and the United Nations, accused Rwanda of supporting the rebels, which Rwanda has subsequently denied.

Since then, Qatar and the United States have shown an interest in resolving the situation through mediation.

Qatar has long positioned itself as a mediator in global disputes, but Washington is driven by the opportunity to gain a larger piece of Congo’s massive natural wealth.

Washington is working to increase access to critical minerals like copper, cobalt, and lithium, which are used in mobile phones and electric cars.

These resources are presently mostly controlled by China and its mining firms.