IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/aolpei/241371.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Agricultural Production and Trade Structure Profile in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Author

Listed:
  • Lubanda, J.- P. E.
  • Smutka, L.
  • Selby, R.

Abstract

The African region represents the weak point of the world economy. Many African countries have still not finished the process of transforming their economy. Agriculture represents only a minor portion of their economies’ performance – however it is still a key sector of the economy (especially considering the number of people working in agriculture or people representing the agricultural population). The agricultural sector in many sub-Saharan countries is extremely sensitive and its stability affects the stability of the whole region. A very good example representing sub-Saharan Africa is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is a country with a lot of potential, but it is classified among the poorest countries in the world. Its economy is extremely weak (despite its significant share in total GDP formation value), and underdeveloped. The share of agriculture in total GDP formation is over 42.5%. The number of people living in rural areas represents over 45 million out of a total of 75 million. The number of people working in agriculture is over 60% of the total economically active population. The economy of the country is extremely poor and fragile, mainly because of political instability. The aim of this paper is firstly to specify the position of agriculture in the DRC economy, and also to specify the production and trade commodity structure in relation to other African countries. The paper’s ambition is to identify the most perspective commodities (groups of commodities), both for production and also for trade, and to recommend such a production and trade profile which would allow the DRC the possibility of improving its competitiveness - not only in relation to other African countries, but also in relation to the global market. The production and trade commodity structures are analysed through the application of the BCG method and competitiveness analysis. In relation to these objectives, the paper provides the following conclusions. The position of agriculture in the DRC economy is stable one. Furthermore, agriculture probably represents the most stable part of the DRC economy. According to the portfolio and competitiveness analyses, the most important commodity items for the DRC are the following: Rice paddy, Maize, and Cassava. The most competitive trade items are particularly Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa, and Sugar Raw centrifugal. The most notable weakness of DRC agriculture is the production of Wheat, Beverages, Poultry Meat, and Fixed Vegetable Oils.

Suggested Citation

  • Lubanda, J.- P. E. & Smutka, L. & Selby, R., 2016. "Agricultural Production and Trade Structure Profile in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 8(2), pages 1-21, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aolpei:241371
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.241371
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/241371/files/agris_on-line_2016_2_lubanda_smutka_selby.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.241371?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zaghini, Andrea, 2003. "Trade advantages and specialisation dynamics in acceding countries," Working Paper Series 249, European Central Bank.
    2. World Bank, 2016. "World Development Indicators 2016," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 23969.
    3. Augstin Kwasi Fosu, 2003. "Political Instability and Export Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 68-83.
    4. Mansoor Maitah & Erika Urbankova, 2015. "The Effect of Educational Level on the Productivity in the Czech Republic," Modern Applied Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(6), pages 226-226, June.
    5. Ahmed, Abdullahi D. & Suardi, Sandy, 2009. "Macroeconomic Volatility, Trade and Financial Liberalization in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1623-1636, October.
    6. Quentin Wodon & Hassan Zaman, 2010. "Higher Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa: Poverty Impact and Policy Responses," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 25(1), pages 157-176, February.
    7. Mansoor Maitah & Luboš Smutka, 2012. "Economic analysis of milk production and consumption in the Middle East and North Africa," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 60(4), pages 245-254.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Karel Tomšík & Luboš Smutka, 2013. "Selected aspects and specifics of the economic development in sub-Saharan Africa," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 61(2), pages 517-528.
    2. Hrushikesh Mallick, 2017. "Determinants of workers’ remittances: An empirical investigation for a panel of eleven developing Asian economies," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(12), pages 2875-2900, December.
    3. Moyo, Clement & Le Roux, Pierre, 2018. "Interest rate reforms and economic growth: the savings and investment channel," MPRA Paper 85297, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Karel Malec & Shereen Gouda & Elena Kuzmenko & Daryoush Soleimani & Helena Rezbov & Petra nov, 2016. "Gross Domestic Product Development and Employment in Egypt (2000-2013)," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 6(1), pages 199-206.
    5. Sunder Ramaswamy & Abishek Choutagunta & Santhosh K. Sahu, 2016. "Evaluating Asian FTAs: What do Gravity Equation Models Tell Us?," Working Papers id:11377, eSocialSciences.
    6. Jan Fagerberg & Bengt-Åke Lundvall & Martin Srholec, 2018. "Global Value Chains, National Innovation Systems and Economic Development," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 533-556, July.
    7. Jarosz-Angowska, Aneta & Kąkol, Magdalena, 2016. "Comparative Analysis of Support to Agriculture in the QUAD Countries in 1986-2014," Problems of World Agriculture / Problemy Rolnictwa Światowego, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, vol. 16(31), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Adugna Lemi & Sisay Asefa, 2009. "Differential Impacts of Economic Volatility and Governance on Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing Foreign Direct Investments: The Case of US Multinationals in Africa," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 367-395.
    9. Bahta, S. & Temoso, O. & Mekonnen, D. & Malope, P. & Staal, S., 2018. "Technical efficiency of beef production in agricultural districts of Botswana: A Latent Class Stochastic Frontier Model Approach," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277207, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Keller, Wolfgang & Utar, Hale, 2023. "International trade and job polarization: Evidence at the worker level," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    11. Dongjing Chen & Xiaotong Guo, 2023. "Impact of the Digital Economy and Financial Development on Residents’ Consumption Upgrading: Evidence from Mainland China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-25, May.
    12. Abdoul G. Sam & Babatunde O. Abidoye & Sihle Mashaba, 2021. "Climate change and household welfare in sub-Saharan Africa: empirical evidence from Swaziland," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(2), pages 439-455, April.
    13. Longo, Robert & Sekkat, Khalid, 2004. "Economic Obstacles to Expanding Intra-African Trade," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1309-1321, August.
    14. Chrysovalantis Amountzias, 2018. "The Effects of Competition, Liquidity and Exports on Markups: Evidence from the UK Food and Beverages Sector," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 187-208, June.
    15. Beňo, Michal, 2021. "E-working: Country Versus Culture Dimension," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 13(2), June.
    16. Almeida, Alexandre N. & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E., 2019. "Agricultural productivity, shadow wages and off-farm labor decisions in Nicaragua," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 99-110.
    17. Bruno Lanz & Simon Dietz & Tim Swanson, 2018. "Global Economic Growth and Agricultural Land Conversion under Uncertain Productivity Improvements in Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(2), pages 545-569.
    18. Alexander W. Cappelen & Benjamin Enke & Bertil Tungodden, 2025. "Universalism: Global Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(1), pages 43-76, January.
    19. Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Langlotz, Sarah, 2019. "The effects of foreign aid on refugee flows," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 127-147.
    20. Wigley, Simon, 2017. "The resource curse and child mortality, 1961–2011," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 142-148.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:aolpei:241371. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fevszcz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.