Government invests US $13.8 million in reviving agriculture

The Republic of Congo announced on Friday that it would allocate 7.6 billion francs CFA (US $13.8 million) to revitalise the country's weak agricultural sector. "This 10-year sectoral development plan, which will be evaluated every three years, will enable the revitalisation of the agricultural sector through improved training and better transportation routes," Alain Akoualat Atipo, the communication minister and government spokesman, said. He said that President Denis Sassou-Nguesso had asked the Finance Ministry to make the funds available immediately. A major nationwide food security initiative was launched in late 2002. A collaborative effort among the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, NGO partners and government ministries, the programme aims to help farmers, herders, and fishermen to increase the output of food. The level of agricultural production in the country has remained low due to widespread conflict and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in the past decade in the highly productive central region, thereby increasing the country's reliance on imported food. At present, some 100 billion francs CFA ($182 million) is spent on such imports, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Food security has deteriorated considerably in zones of conflict. Of some 10 million ha of arable land in the country, only 2 percent is under cultivation.