Overview
The Republic of Congo’s agricultural sector is limited and cannot satisfy domestic demand. The country relies heavily on food imports, which account for about 80 percent of domestic food consumption. Imported foodstuffs come mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, France, and the United States. France is the largest source of the Republic of Congo’s agricultural imports.
|
|
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 estimated |
|
Total Local Production |
9.48 |
11.19 |
13.05 |
3.56 |
|
Total Exports |
8.10 |
8.95 |
10.36 |
3.24 |
|
Total Imports |
567 |
517 |
596 |
282 |
|
Imports from the US |
48 |
49 |
45 |
n/a |
|
Total Market Size |
568.38 |
519.24 |
598.69 |
289.12 |
|
Exchange Rates |
589 |
586 |
556 |
545 |
Unns of US Dollars.
Total market size = (total local production + imports) - exports
Data sources: Republic of Congo Ministry of Agriculture and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
Leading Sub-Sectors
Corn grows well in the Republic of Congo and has potential as a human food source, as well as to support poultry and livestock production. Mechanized farming is a promising area for investment, as land, labor, and demand are readily available.
Opportunities
Opportunities exist for exporting food products to the Republic of Congo, as well as setting up operations in the Republic of Congo for the production and/or processing of food.
Approximately 40 percent of the population is engaged in subsistence agricultural production, which contributes just four percent of Congo’s gross domestic product. Only a small percentage of arable land is currently under cultivation – less than four percent according to one recent estimate. Land under cultivation has not increased appreciably in recent years.
South African farmers have recently leased land for food production in Congo, and the U.S.-based NGO International Partnership for Human Development (IPHD) has successfully prototyped large-scale industrial farming in three different areas of the country.