Women fight hunger with agriculture in Congo

Some 70% of Africans work in agriculture but nearly one-fourth of the continent’s population is undernourished.

That reality is something United Methodist women in local churches in Eastern Congo are working to change, and in a hands-on way.

Recently, women of the denomination from Bukavu cultivated a big part of a United Methodist Church-owned tract in Katana, in the Kabare Territory of South Kivu.

“As a mother, I must take every precaution to block the road to famine,” said Mbilizi Bonane, president of United Methodist Women in Bukavu.

In February 2018, the women harvested bags of maize and peanuts from a field they had cultivated. That was a great benefit to the women and their families.

Beatrice Anunga, coordinator of United Methodist Women in the Kivu Conference, agreed that women need to be leaders in using church land to fight hunger.

Self-sufficiency is a theme among United Methodists in Eastern Congo these days.

“In each local church we encourage these projects, and this will have a positive impact,” Anunga said.

Bonane noted that there are three United Methodist sites of agriculture tended by women of the area, in Katana, Bunyakiri and Mwenga.

On Oct. 8, the president of Congo, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, dedicated an agricultural laboratory at the International Institute of Agricultural Technology. It’s in Kalambo, in the same general area where women of the denomination have been farming on church land.

The laboratory will provide digital mapping of the soil as well as projects to improve cultivation of certain crops, such as beans, bananas and cassava. That has the potential to be a big help to all who are farming in the area, including the United Methodist women.

Lending support to the women in his own way has been Bishop Gabriel Unda Yemba. He said he is ready to champion any local congregation willing to take up agriculture to fight hunger and malnutrition.

Dr. Marie Claire Unda, wife of Bishop Unda, is encouraging women to till the soil or in some other way support agriculture projects by local churches.

“If we are poor or if we have malnourished children … it is because we neglect agriculture,” she said.

Kituka Lolonga is a communicator in the Kivu Conference.

News media contact: Vicki Brown, news editor, newsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5469. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests.


Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
Central Conferences
The United Methodist Church is getting a new map in Africa. When the Africa Central Conference meets March 13-17 in Johannesburg, the central conference will split to form the Southern Africa and East Africa central conferences. Central conferences are responsible for electing bishops and making adaptations to the Book of Discipline for their missional context. Graphic by Ben Ward, UM News.

Church gears up for new bishops, new map

Four United Methodist central conferences are scheduled in the coming months. By the time they conclude, United Methodists expect to have eight additional new bishops and one more central conference.
Church Leadership
Anna Riddle. Photo by Heather Gaydeski Photography.

Carrie Parrish's legacy holds lessons for today

A trailblazer for women clergy in The United Methodist Church, Parrish championed equality and fought to tear down barriers in her day.
Violence
United Methodists Joséphine Kingombe and Masudi Kansilembo read messages sent to their phones by pastors in Bukavu, Congo. Church leaders are sending support to help the faithful during growing insecurity in the region. Photo by Philippe Kituka Lolonga, UM News.

United Methodists stay connected amid Congo conflict

With churches shuttered due to insecurity in the region, United Methodist leaders are using social networks to continue evangelism and deliver messages of hope.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2025 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved