Browse Data and Analysis

This report is designed to be an introduction to the political, economic, and trade situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC is the second largest country in Africa and boasts one of the largest population on the continent.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) offers significant growth potential for U.S. food and beverage exporters, driven by its large population and increasing urbanization, U.S. agricultural and related product exports to the DRC are rising, with strong demand for wheat, poultry, vegetable oil, and rice.

Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, is expected to drop by more than 50 percent in marketing year 2024/25, due to extended dry spells associated with the El Niño event. Almost a million hectares of corn have been destroyed by the drought that forced the Zambian President to declare a “National Disaster and Emergency”.

Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, is expected to grow by 23 percent to 3.3 million metric tons (MMT) in marketing year (MY) 2023/24, mainly due to an upsurge in planted area.

Despite lower production in marketing year (MY) 2022/23, Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, will be sufficient to meet domestic demand. Zambia’s corn crop is forecast to decline by 25 percent to 2.7 million metric tons (MMT) in MY 2022/23, after producing a record crop 3.6 MMT in MY 2021/22.

On May 5, 2022, trade and finance ministers from East African Community (EAC) member countries agreed to raise minimum common external tariffs from 25 to 35 percent on several agricultural products.

Zambia produced its largest corn crop on record in the 2021/22 MY. This bumper corn crop of 3.6 million tons follows on Zambia’s third largest corn crop of 3.4 million tons produced in the 2020/21 MY.

In the 2020/21 MY, Zambia produced its second highest corn crop on record. This bumper corn crop of 3.4 million tons is 69 percent higher than the previous season’s crop of 2.0 million tons.

MY2020/21 rice production is forecast to recover to 1.7 million metric tons after several years of below average production due to adverse weather conditions.

The Zambian government estimates a 16 percent drop in the production of corn in the 2019/20 MY to 2.0 million tons, due to drought that impacted the southern parts of the country.

MY2018/19 production is forecast to decline to 1.47 million metric tons down 18 percent due to flooding damage.

Two-way agricultural trade between the United States and Southern Africa has grown significantly in the past decade, reaching a record $1.5 billion in 2017.