From Reuters

Democratic Republic of Congo 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.

Congo 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 program hinges on 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.

“This initiative has potential to create durable growth and limit the vulnerability of an economy that depends on natural resources and fluctuations of international markets,” Jean Chrysostome Vahamwiti, minister for agriculture and rural development, said on Tuesday at the launch of the 75,000 hectare Bukanga Lonzo park, 240 km (150 miles) east of Kinshasa.

 

 

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