DRC: DRC Launches Agri-Business Park in Move to Revamp Farming

Jul 17, 2014 | The Africa Report
View Original

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has launched its first agricultural business park, the initial step in a plan to use its vast tracts of arable land to produce food, create jobs and wean the economy off its dependence on mining.

DRC has 80 million hectares of arable land and some 70 percent of the population works in farming but most are involved in subsistence agriculture and the country spent $1.5 billion on food imports last year.

The programme hinges on DR Congo overcoming its reputation for being one of the trickiest business environments and reversing the current trend for agriculture's contribution to the economy declining as the mining sector expands.