Bilateral meeting with H.E. Grégoire Mutshail Mutomb Kangaji, Minister for Agriculture and Food Security of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Rome - The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met today with H.E. Grégoire Mutshail Mutomb Kangaji, Minister for Agriculture and Food Security of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at FAO headquarters.

The Director General welcomed the Minister and appreciated the existing cooperation between FAO and the DRC.

The Minister thanked the Director-General and FAO for all the support extended to the DRC, especially during the most challenging periods, and stated that the country needed increased technical support to improve its agriculture and food production, in particular for seed production for maize, rice and casava, as they have vast land and many water resources. The Minister appreciated DDG Beth Bechdol’s recent visit to DRC, as well as the exemplary leadership of the Director-General and for the reforms he had introduced.

The Minister further expressed the DRC’s intention to be more involved in all FAO led food security initiatives as one in every four people in the DRC was food insecure, and therefore sought assistance with innovative projects and machinery, which could improve food security in the country and beyond.

The Minister also referred to the fisheries and aquaculture, and livestock projects, for which they also required technical assistance. Other areas for increased collaboration included extension of Green Cities initiative, transformation of their agrifood system for improved food sufficiency and to increase food production for export, improved land management, development of agro-industries, and modernization of agricultural equipment. Finally, the Minister reiterated the DRC’s firm intention to join FAO initiatives such as the Hand-in-Hand and One Country One Priority Product (OCOP), among others.

The Director-General reiterated FAO’s commitment to continue to support the DRC, noting the potential to improve the country’s agricultural productivity based on its vast natural resources, particularly land and water. He further highlighted the importance of cooperating with countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and China, among others, through FAO’s global network of country offices to share knowledge and experience on rice productivity, as well as through South-South and Triangular Cooperation.

The Director-General referred to the FAO project in South Sudan regarding the establishment of a corridor, which could be replicated in the Lobito area in the DRC, and to design a satellite green cities corridor to improve the green economy and support agrifood system transformation.