Boende-Monkoto village road

The district of Tshuapa, Equatorial Province, was once considered one of the country's agricultural centres, feeding the local population as well as supplying the town of Mbandaka and the capital Kinshasa. 

But ongoing conflict and the economic collapse in the 1990s resulted in the disappearance of local market places, damaging the traditional way of life and forcing farmers to restrict themselves to subsistence agriculture.

A formerly key 130km route connecting the towns of Boende and Monkoto has been reduced to a footpath by the years of war and neglect. With a population of over 340,000 people, many living in isolated farms, the area has been particularly affected by a lack of reliable transport infrastructure.
Despite its agricultural potential and favourable climate the Boende and Monkoto area now faces high levels of malnutrition and extreme poverty, a paradox found throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The reopening of the road between the two towns is the first stage of a four-year project to revitalise agricultural production and improve access to markets in the country. The $4.2 million project is funded by the EU and implemented by UNOPS and aims to ultimately reduce poverty and improve food security.

Reliable access routes will also make it possible for the project to attain other goals such as strengthening existing farmers’ organizations, distributing agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilizers, and constructing storage facilities and sales outlets.

UNOPS will use labour-based methods to rebuild the road in order to ensure maximum use of local labour and materials.