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By Denise Kyalwahi
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Muhindo Nzangi Butondo, is seeking to improve farmers’ access to financing in order to boost local production and reduce the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s dependence on food imports. This ambition was at the centre of a meeting on financial inclusion and agricultural investment held on Thursday, 5 November 2026, in Kinshasa.
Limited access to credit remains one of the main obstacles to agricultural development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To address this challenge, the Ministry of Agriculture intends to bring financial institutions, investors and farmers closer together through financing mechanisms tailored to the realities of the agricultural sector.
It was in this context that Muhindo Nzangi Butondo officially opened, on Thursday, 5 November, the proceedings of the first meeting of the Permanent Committee on Financial Inclusion and the Promotion of Agricultural Investment, held at the Hôtel du Fleuve in Kinshasa.
The meeting aims to identify sustainable solutions to facilitate the financing of agricultural activities and encourage investment across various production sectors.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of State expressed concern over the reluctance of banks and investors to support agricultural operators, particularly because many of them lack the financial guarantees required to secure funding.
In response to this challenge, he called on the various stakeholders to combine their efforts to remove the obstacles preventing farmers from accessing the resources they need to develop their activities.
“That is why we must pool our efforts to find a solution to this challenge,” he said.
Investing to Reduce Food Imports
According to Muhindo Nzangi, the DRC’s dependence on external markets for its food supply must gradually give way to domestic production capable of meeting the needs of the population.
In his view, the country has considerable agricultural potential that requires substantial investment to be fully developed.
The minister therefore invited investors and partners to explore the various opportunities available in the sector, particularly the development of seed production networks, agricultural mechanisation, the construction of storage facilities and the processing of agricultural products.
He also assured stakeholders that the government remains willing to consider investment proposals that could contribute to the modernisation and growth of the sector.
Financial Mechanisms Tailored to Farmers’ Needs
For their part, members of the Permanent Committee reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the recommendations made during the workshop on financial inclusion held last June.
Among the proposed measures are improving access to agricultural credit, creating financial products tailored to farmers’ needs and developing agricultural insurance mechanisms that take local realities into account.
Promoting investment across the various agricultural value chains is also among the priorities.
Through this consultation framework, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security aims to foster closer cooperation between farmers, banks and investors.
The objective is to make financing a key driver of agricultural development in the DRC, capable of supporting domestic production, creating jobs and progressively strengthening the food sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
