The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a shortage of maize in the Katanga and Kasaï areas. It was the national deputy Jean-Jacques Mpanga wa Lukalaba who challenged the Ministry of Agriculture through an oral question with debate. He wonders about the measures taken upstream to avoid this situation as well as the level of execution of these measures.
He also asks the Minister to make available to the representatives of the people the statistics for the last three years concerning the needs for consumption and production of maize in the Katanga and Kasaï areas.
The MP also wonders about the level of implementation of the measures recommended in the Government’s Action Program 2021-2023 aimed at encouraging and supporting civil servants and public authorities to acquire agricultural land as well as the implementation of the policy “to each a roof, a field in his village for each crop”.
Despite supply deals with Zambia and South Africa, Jean-Jacques Mpanga wa Lukalaba believes priority should be given to local solutions. He recalls that the Democratic Republic of Congo has 80 million hectares of arable land, capable of feeding 2 billion people around the world, according to the 2016 FAO report.
In addition, the deputy underlines the importance of agriculture for the development of a country, contributing effectively to the fight against poverty by ensuring the food self-sufficiency of the population.
This interpellation of the national deputy is a new proof of the need to develop local agriculture in the Democratic Republic of Congo to face the problems of food insecurity.