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FAO – Urban horticulture in the Congo reaps $400 million for small growers
Linked by Michael Levenston
How a project for development of urban and peri-urban horticulture in five cities is helping to grow 150,000 tonnes of vegetables a year — supply fresh, nutritious produce to 11.5 million urban residents — build sustainable livelihoods for 16,000 small-scale market gardeners — generate jobs and income for 60,000 people in the horticulture value chain
City malnutrition drops as more affordable fruit and vegetables available
FAO Press Release
10 June 2011
Rome – An FAO urban horticulture programme in the five main cities of the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken a bite out of chronic malnutrition levels in urban areas and created a surplus with a market value of over $400 million.
The programme, started as a response to mass urban migration following a five-year conflict in the eastern DRC, now assists local urban growers to produce 330 000 tons of vegetables annually.
This compares to 148 000 in 2005/2006, an increase of 122 percent over a short period of five years. Less than 10 percent of the vegetables produced by the project are consumed by beneficiaries. The remainder, constituting more than 250 000 tons of produce, is sold in urban markets and supermarkets, for up to $4 a kilo for the major vegetables produced: tomatoes, sweet peppers and onions.
Around 11.5 million people live in the five cities concerned — Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Mbanza-Ngungu, Kisangani and Likasi — out of the DRC’s total population of around 68 million.
Greens a-plenty
Production levels reached through implementation of the $10.4 million FAO urban horticulture programme, financed by Belgium and implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development since 2000 with strong support from municipal committees, translate to around 28.6 kilos of vegetables a year per city-dweller.
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