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BlogSupporting resilient livelihoods in DRC
Since 2023, Concern has been implementing the project "Improving Coping Mechanisms and Responses to New Emergencies in the Most Vulnerable Fragile Communities in Eastern DRC", as part of Irish Aid’s Chronic Humanitarian Crisis (CHC) funding stream. Through this project, Concern works with conflict-affected communities in Beni territory, North Kivu Province to help them recover from shocks and build resilience.
In 2024, Concern supported 350 households to restore and diversify economic activities, improving their capacity to build more resilient livelihoods.
This support included vocational trainings, literacy classes, and coaching on business skills; cash and asset transfers; and the establishment of Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) to provide members with access to local financial services. This packet of activities enables participants to launch their own income generating activities (IGAs), helping them to become economically self-sufficient, improve household food security and build resilience.
Marigo lives in Beni town, DRC. She describes how the CHC project has helped her to cover her immediate needs and develop a source of income. Over the course of 2024, Marigo attended trainings on literacy and business planning, became a member of a VSLA and learned how to participate, and received cash transfers to cover her basic needs and invest in her chosen IGA. "Thanks to the monthly transfers I was able to buy trees, sheet metal and nails to build a house," she said.
Marigo also accessed a loan from her VSLA, which she used to set up her own small business selling avocados. She plans to use the income she earns to diversify her IGA further and sell fish as well.
Along with 279 other programme participants, Marigo has also benefitted from six months of functional literacy and numeracy classes, important skills for the running and management of her IGA. One of Concern’s local NGO partners - Solidarity Agricultural Cooperative of Congo (SOCOAC), delivers these sessions.
"I wouldn't say that I have become an expert, but I already know the minimum, for example reading the number of shares in my account book"
Charlotte lives in Beni town and with help from the CHC project, she launched an IGA in pig breeding. "When the Concern staff arrived here, they saw how we were living with 4 children and a household size of 6 people, it was difficult for us to live and eat," she explains.
Now, Charlotte’s situation has improved. After receiving technical training, business coaching and cash and asset transfers from Concern, she was able to buy some pigs and launch her breeding business. Charlotte is also a member of a VSLA and each week she buys five shares thanks to the income earned from her pigs. With gradual saving, she eventually plans to expand her farm further and add other animals.
“Concern taught us how to save and now I save every week. I could do other projects [with my savings]. My request to Concern is to give us more substantial starting capital to strengthen our businesses and propel us further”
At 19 years old, Faida is the head of her household and is responsible her two younger siblings. In 2021, her parents and several other family members were killed in an armed group attack in her village in 2021. Faida fled to Beni town with her siblings, but their life was precarious and they struggled to find enough to eat. "I rented a small room and lived thanks to the support of several neighbours and occasionally I also cultivated other people's fields to get food."
When Concern began targeting participants in the area, Faida’s household was identified as meeting the vulnerability criteria and she joined the programme. Faida became a member of a VSLA called 'Mungu ni Mwema', meaning 'God is good.' She became a member of the management committee and participated in various trainings on how to effectively run the VSLA.
Similar to Marigo, Faida also received cash transfers, which allowed her to cover her household’s immediate needs and invest in a small IGA buying and selling data and call and text bundles for mobile phones.
"The business is evolving very well. The six different cash transfers and the asset transfer helped me to grow my capital. I have resumed classes at the Institute of Medical Technology, and I pay the school fees myself without any difficulty thanks to the profits from my activity. I learned how to start an activity that generates income. I dream of expanding my business later after my studies by combining it with the mobile money transfer business”.
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