12 October 2025 — Kinshasa, 12 October 2025 — Three years after its launch, the Programme for Support to Inclusive and Resilient Rural Development (PADRIR), funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and implemented by the Congolese government, is undergoing a midterm review. Officially, this is “to assess progress.” Unofficially, it seems aimed at maintaining the appearance of a rural policy struggling to keep its promises.
From 24 September to 7 October 2025, the joint IFAD–Government mission evaluated rural infrastructure, seeds, gender integration, and financial management within the program. Everything seems to have been “analyzed.” Yet behind the institutional jargon, the reality remains stark: rural poverty has not budged. According to IFAD’s own figures, 65% of Congolese farming households still live below the poverty line, compared to 63% before the program began.
“More funds invested, less measurable impact,” several observers told Kilalopress. And yet, the mission’s conclusions praise the “resilience of rural communities.” On the ground, this resilience largely reflects farmers’ ability to survive without assistance, without roads, and without credit.
The report mentions the rehabilitation of rural access roads. But in several provinces across the DRC, only about 12% of these roads are passable year-round, according to the Ministry of Infrastructure. In Ingende, in Équateur, as well as in Salamabila near Kindu, cassava often rots in the fields due to lack of transportation. Meanwhile, steering committee meetings continue behind closed doors in Kinshasa. The paradox is total: for forty years, the discourse has been about connecting rural areas, yet markets remain inaccessible. The Congolese farmer remains hostage to a system where promises travel faster than trucks.
The word “resilience” has become a mantra of development agencies. “Strengthening the resilience of communities against climate shocks,” reads PADRIR’s documentation. But as Edgar Morin once noted, “Resilience without structural reform is just an empty word.”
On this point, PADRIR reforms nothing: neither agricultural models, nor marketing channels, nor the chronic dependence on international aid.
In 2025, the DRC still imports nearly 70% of its staple foods, according to FAO data—a paradox for a country with 80 million hectares of arable land, of which less than 10% are cultivated.
PADRIR boasts of having “integrated gender” into its strategy. But the reality is less flattering. According to the World Bank, only 22% of rural Congolese women have access to formal agricultural credit. In PADRIR zones, this figure rises slightly to 24%. Two percentage points gained for millions invested: cosmetic inclusion, not a revolution. Internal discussions between the Steering Committee and the coordination unit continue ahead of signing the “memorandum of understanding”—a phrase that, for many farmers, symbolizes the complete disconnect between institutions and the field.
In Kalehe (South Kivu), a farmer interviewed by Kilalopress summed it up in one sentence: “We have been talking about rural development since Mobutu, but my fields are still flooded.” PADRIR was meant to inaugurate a new era of inclusive rural development. Three years later, it represents the continuity of a project-based policy without a national vision. Without strong political leadership, land reform, and accountability, “rural resilience” will remain a bureaucratic slogan.
“You cannot eat reports.” — Kofi Annan
And as long as agricultural programs continue to produce more documents than results, hunger will remain the only truly stable indicator in rural Congo.
By Kilalopress