High malnutrition among artisanal gold miners in eastern DR Congo
Men work in a gold mine in DR Congo. Exposure to violence and food shortage have led to malnutrition among communities of artisanal gold miners in eastern DR Congo. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
In Maniema, eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), gold deposits are plenty. But the deposits are being extracted by people who are malnourished, exposing the scale of food shortage in a region full of valuable minerals.
Medical charity group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says it treated 2,460 children with malnutrition in 2021 in this region, particularly in the town of Salamabila. And cases of death have increased among children affected by acute malnutrition.
