Détenteur d’un diplôme d’études approfondies (DEA) en Sciences Economiques et de Gestion, Assistant d’enseignement à l’Institut Supérieur des Techniques Médicales de Nyangezi (ISTM, NYANGEZI), Bukavu, RD Congo
This paper presents the analysis of the economic impact of flooding in the agricultural sector of the Karhongo/Nyangezi group. The data were collected from a sample of 100 people (79 women and 21 men) drawn by snowball in the 10 villages of the Karhongo group in Nyangezi, Ngweshe chiefdom, Walungu territory, South Kivu province in Democratic Republic of Congo; which villages are often victims of flooding. Other data were collected by field observation, documentary means and survey questionnaire. These data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (calculation of average, numbers and percentages, cross tables, etc.); Excel and SPSS 20.0 software were used for this. The results indicate that the floods of February 2023 worsened the crumbling of the economic situation of the population of the Karhongo group. Total or partial destruction was helplessly observed on national road no. 5 (Cihanda bridge completely collapsed with all the consequences on local, provincial and international commercial transactions), agricultural service roads cut, houses flooded or destroyed, fields of cassava, beans, banana plantations and brickworks flooded or destroyed, etc. The results of this study also reveal that the prices of basic foodstuffs (cassava, corn, bananas, beans, etc.), after flooding, have experienced an exaggerated increase of around 84.25% on average. Finally, the study shows that humanitarian aid (from the government or NGDOs) to disaster victims is always insufficient and late. Partial solutions are recommended: dredging or drainage of the Cihanda and Bishalalo rivers, the floods of which cause serious flooding, and the reforestation of the hills, etc. to reduce these disasters as little as possible given that they cannot be completely avoided.