• In total, the number of people in acute food insecurity and livelihood crisis (IPC Phases 3 and 4) is estimated at 7.7 million people in the rural areas covered by this 15th cycle IPC Analysis. These populations are in need of urgent help aimed at saving lives through holistic assistance for basic needs (food, water, medicine, housing, emergency agricultural production, etc.).
• Comparing the 14th cycle from June 2016 to the 15th cycle of June 2017, there is a serious deterioration in food security in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In one year (5.9 million in June 2016 and 7.7 million in June 2017), the increase in people with severe food deficits and acute malnutrition at high or above normal levels was higher than 30%.
• Efforts by the Government (and its technical and financial partners) in the process of pacifying the Kasai and Tanganyika regions and the eastern part of the country remain a major asset in the effort to mitigate the immediate effects of conflict in all its forms, to support livelihoods, and to address underlying causes by protecting lives and avoiding acute/severe malnutrition.

Recommendations and implications for response

• Save lives and preserve livelihoods in emergency areas through the general distribution of food products, including fortified foods, cash and vouchers and specialized nutritional products in addition to short vegetative cycle seeds to diversify meals;
• Support / restore food security and nutrition and rebuild livelihoods in fragile areas as a result of conflicts through the provision of seeds and other emergency agricultural inputs, such as manual tools and fertilizer (through direct distribution and systems based on the distribution of vouchers, fishing nets, lines and hooks), the multiplication of seeds and planting material
• Support crop initiatives and market gardening around houses and schools by providing inputs and organizing training on market gardening and nutrition. 
• Promote improved agricultural practices such as agricultural seed diversification, water management, supply of small livestock, etc.
• Reduce risks and enable households and communities to meet their own food and nutrition needs by addressing structural causes: targeting small-scale agricultural processing, rehabilitating agricultural access roads, small-scale irrigation, drought resilience funds, training government and community workers in the field of health, managing rural roads, supporting field schools for young farmers and rural life, gender sensitive approach etc.