USDBC Food Aid Mission to Congo Republic March 4-14, 2015

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1 Submitted to: USDA/FAS GRAIN AND FEED DIVISION SOUTH AGRICULTURAL BUILDING 14TH & INDEPENDENCE AVES. S.W. WASHINGTON, D.C Submitted by: David McClellan USDBC Regional Marketing Representative Date: March 14, 2015

2 p. 1 US Dry Bean Council Representatives: Tim Koosmann John Galegher David McClellan USDBC Food Aid Mission to Congo Republic Introduction In March, USDBC sent two US dry bean farmers to Republic of Congo to visit the commercial farming operations of International Partnership for Human Development (IPHD), and specifically to assist IPHD in introducing large scale commercial dry bean production in this country. Tim Koosmann and John Galegher volunteered to travel with IPHD s farm manager Roman Botan to four of the IPHD-managed farming operations in Nkoumou, Djambala, Lekana and Moindi. IPHD s school lunch program in Congo (461 schools, 157,000 students) is one of the largest users of US dry beans in Africa. IPHD s is also one of the only school feeding programs in the world that is transitioning from USDA to local government funding. IPHD also manages five, government-owned 5,000 hectare community farms with which they intend to demonstrate the profitability of modern agriculture in Congo. USDBC works to support IPHD's school nutrition and farming programs because they help us show other NGO's how using more dry beans in their school feeding programs helps them towards their ultimate goal of local ownership: Dry beans (unlike yellow split peas or corn soy blend) are grown locally and considered good, traditional food by most people in the developing world. Buying dry beans strengthens local markets. o Purchasing locally produced dry beans supports local farmers. o Purchasing dry beans from local traders promotes local businesses and international trade. Dry beans improve farm productivity. o Dry beans are an excellent rotation crop with corn, manioc, soy, etc. boosting soil health and breaking disease cycles. IPHD has purchased 340 mt of US pinto beans so far in 2015 through the McGovern-Dole program. As the Congolese government takes over more of the program, IPHD will be able to buy its next US pinto beans on a commercial basis.

3 p. 2 Trade Mission Itinerary Wednesday, March 4 Arrive to Brazzaville, Congo Thursday, March 5 Visit IPHD school feeding operation in the Trois Francs public school

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5 p. 4 Friday, March 6 Drive Brazzaville to Ngo. Drive to the river from which water is trucked to the farm and the village the only local water source. Saturday, March 7 Visit IPHD s Nkoumou farm, work with farm team to plant 1 hectare test plot of dry beans Roman Botan (in red hat), Tim, John and farm workers

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7 p. 6 Sunday, March 8 Drive to Djambalá, visit IPHD farms at Abalandaló and Lekana

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9 p. 8 Monday, March 9 Drive Djambalá to Brazzaville Meet with Congolese Minister of Agriculture Rigobert Maboundou The Congolese government has contracted IPHD to manage their pilot commercial farms in the hopes that they can attract farmers from abroad to work land in Congo. The local businessmen with money are not farmers, and the local farmers have no money. We later met a South African group of farmer investors with a 40,000 hectare concession for 50 years for free. Fly to Pointe Noire

10 p. 9 Tuesday, March 10 Drive from Pointe Noire to Dolisie Visit CEMA custom farm work center in Mouléndé Visit Deon Lezar s farm 40,000 hectare farm concession for 50 years from Congo government

11 Visit IPHD farm at Mouindí USDBC Food Aid Mission to Congo Republic p. 10

12 IPHD-managed communal farm in Moindi, Congo USDBC Food Aid Mission to Congo Republic p. 11

13 p. 12 Wednesday, March 11 Drive Dolisie to Pointe Noire Visit Pointe Noire central market and numerous market stands selling local small white and yellow kidney beans, and imported red speckled kidney beans (Cameroon), pea beans (Chad) and blackeye beans (Nigeria), as well as North American pinto beans. N.American pinto beans sold at francs/cup

14 p. 13 Locally produced beans ( francs/cup) Blackeyes from Chad (175 francs/cup) Pea beans from Cameroun (150 francs/cup) Thursday, March 12 Visit IPHD school lunch operation in the Jean Felix Tchikaya public school

15 p. 14 Visit importer Société Africain de Distribution & d Industrie (S.A.D.I.) Mr. Khaled Trad, Managing Director B.P Pointe-Noire, République du Congo Tel : +242 (05) sadicongo@grouptrad.com Major importer of Thai rice, wheat flour, milk powder and beans Mr. Trad is interested to import US dry beans, especially pintos which he sees are growing in the market, but is concerned that the current tax regime (import duty of 30% plus 18% VAT plus other minor taxes = 58% total tax) may make imports uncompetitive with dry beans from neighboring Chad, Cameroon, etc.

16 p. 15 which pay a reduced 10% import duty. Even worse, much of the imported dry beans are actually smuggled into Congo and avoid paying any import duty. Friday, March 13 Saturday, March 14 Meet US Ambassador Stephanie Sullivan Meet WHO Representative Dr. Fatoumata Binta T. Diallo Fly Brazzaville - US Conclusions and Observations Seed o Research needs to be done to find out what types of beans perform well here. We would suggest a couple varieties of navies, and a couple pinto varieties of pintos to start. Some replicated tests over multiple seasons is the best method for getting good results. Many times in agriculture we abandon opportunities too quickly when results aren't successful. Sometimes patience and experimentation is required. Soil types o Congo has a great deal of arable land. Most of the quality of the land looked suitable for farming a variety of crops, with surprising amounts of organic matter present. It is questionable how long they will be able to maintain this resource if they are in a continuous cropping plan. For now, farmers will just move production to new fields if they use up organic matter, a vital resource for fertility and soil health. Rainy seasons and dry seasons o Southern Congo receives 5 ½ ft. rain during the November-April rainy season, often in short, intense downpours. o Northern Congo receives 7 ft. rain during the November-April rainy season, often in short, intense downpours. o There is very limited rainfall during the dry season May-October. When to plant dry beans o The consensus we reached was to plant beans near the end of the rainy season. The plan being that dry beans do not do well with too much moisture as this can cause disease conditions. The challenge will be timing it so they can have enough moisture and not suffer from heat during the dryer season. Having some historical local weather data would be beneficial to make planting decisions. Major obstacles o Access to and from fields and farms looks to be a HUGE challenge. The condition of roads we saw would make it difficult to transport inputs and greatly difficult to move large quantities of harvested crops. o With the tropical weather conditions there is a large challenge in storing commodities and protecting them from humidity and insects.

17 p. 16 o Access to inputs and machinery spare parts would also be a challenge as discussed with the port structure and time lag of delivery. Many times crop production success is determined by timely operations. Having to wait for crop protection materials or spare parts can mean the difference in a successful season. Thunderstorm moves downriver on Congo over Kinshasa on far bank