Agriculture in the Republic of the Congo

Cassava (manioc) is the basic food crop everywhere in the country except in the southern region, where bananas and plantains are prevalent.

Among the cash crops, the most important are sugarcane and tobacco, though palm kernels, cacao, and coffee are also cultivated to some extent.

[2] A large part of the Republic of the Congo is clad in tropical forest and about one third of the country has poor sandy soils.

In 2010, the country imported about $300 million of food including wheat, rice, poultry meat, palm oil and milk products.

[3] Livestock husbandry has traditionally been performed on a limited scale in the country, with cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry being reared.

Tuna, bass, sole, and sardines are caught off Pointe-Noire for commercial purposes,[1] although the fishing industry is relatively small.

A drawback in agriculture operations is that young men often prefer to move to urban areas to obtain work, leaving the task of farming to women and old people.

[10] In recent years, to boost agricultural production the Government of Congo has invited farmers from South Africa to carry out commercial farming in the country on a lease basis.