how a project for development of urban and peri-urban … · 2010-11-28 · how a project for...

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 millionurban residents � build sustainable livelihoods for 16 000 small-scale market gardeners � generate jobs and income for 60 000 people in the horticulture value chain

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© FAO 2010

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS2010

2 Foreword, introduction3 Background, the project, the country4 Phase One, 2000-2004

Planting seeds6 Greening Lubumbashi8 Naviundu: “Historic” market garden resists

urban sprawl12 Katuba: Progress in the heart of the city14 Phase Two, 2004-2007

Growing season16 Kilobelobe: City’s “home garden” provides

fresh produce, employment18 Kamilombe: Green acres attract traders22 Pande market: A brisk trade

in locally grown produce24 Phase ree, 2008-2012

Harvest26 Tshamalale: With drip irrigation,

intensified production30 Kashamata: “All of my life is here”32 Credits

2 GROWINGGREENERCITIES INTHEDEMOCRATICREPUBLICOFTHECONGO

ForEWords

Growing foodin greener cities

Expansion of the developing world’surban population is equivalent to onenew city the size of Lagos, every two

months. As urbanization accelerates in thedecades ahead, many low-income countrieswill face the prospect of sprawling slums withlarge, young and vulnerable populations.

Action is needed now to steer urbandevelopment towards green cities thatcontribute to food security, decent work, aclean environment and good governance forall citizens. To help achieve that goal, FAO ispromoting the development of productiveand sustainable urban and peri-urbanhorticulture (UPH).

Market gardens in and around towns andcities contribute to urban food security andnutrition by increasing the supply of freshproduce rich in essential vitamins andminerals. anks to its low start-up costs,and the high market value of its produce,UPH provides livelihoods for the urban poor,and particularly for those newly arrived fromrural areas. It generates further employmentin input supply and value-addition fromproducer to consumer.

Moreover, recycling municipal organicwaste as compost for vegetable gardens helpsboost food production while keeping citystreets clean. UPH reduces the need totransport produce from distant rural areas,thus generating fuel savings and reducing airpollution. Market garden “greenbelts”protect environmentally fragile land fromunregulated urban growth.

Building a sustainable UPH sectorprovides a laboratory for good governance byfostering closer collaboration amonggovernment and municipal departments.Last but not least, UPH builds healthycommunities – vegetable gardens providevulnerable and excluded groups with food,income and a shared enterprise, and are aconstructive channel for young people’senergy.

is report on an FAO-assisted project inthe Democratic Republic of the Congoillustrates the benefits of UPH development,and underscores its important contributionto growing greener cities.

Shivaji Pandey Director, Plant Production and Protection DivisionFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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urban and rural population growth,democratic republic of the congo (millions)

Growth of Kinshasa (in red) 2000-2006

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IntroductIons

A genuine “success story”

The Democratic Republic of the Congois a giant of Africa. e size ofWestern Europe, it is endowed with

vast natural wealth – water, arable land,minerals and, above all, its resourceful andresilient people. Following painful years ofpolitical instability, the country is nowreturning to the path of socio-economicdevelopment, determined to assume itsrightful place in the region and theinternational community.

In the years ahead, the country will face anew challenge. Its population is growing bymore than 2.6 percent a year, rising from50 million in 2000 to 68 million just a decadelater. Most of that growth is in towns andcities, owing to natural population increaseand migration from rural areas. As in manyother low-income countries, rapid urbangrowth is accompanied by high levels ofpoverty, unemployment and undernutrition.

But the Democratic Republic of the Congois far better prepared than most to bear theimpact of massive, rapid urbanization. Forthe past 10 years, FAO has worked with thecountry’s national government, provincialgovernments and city administrations in aproject aimed at developing urban and peri-urban horticulture in Kinshasa and fourother cities.

Project activities have reached more than16 000 small-scale vegetable growers andimproved irrigation and drainage on almosthalf of the total area dedicated tohorticulture. rough farmer field schools,the project has introduced improvedcultivation methods that have led to bigincreases in vegetable production andgrowers’ incomes. Horticulture in andaround the five cities now produces some150 000 tonnes of vegetables a year, and hasgenerated employment for an estimated60 000 people in the value chain.

is project is a genuine “success story”. It is an example of effective urban and peri-urban horticulture development that willbenefit other cities and towns in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in many other African countries.

Ndiaga GueyeFAO RepresentativeDemocratic Republic of the Congo

GROWINGGREENERCITIES INTHEDEMOCRATICREPUBLICOFTHECONGO 3

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KinshasaMbanza-Ngungu

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

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Libreville Kisangani

LikasiLubumbashi

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An age-old survivalstrategy

In the year 2000, theDemocratic Republic of theCongo was emerging from a

five-year conflict in the easternpart of the country that hadcaused countless deaths and amassive flight of rural people totowns and cities. Between 1995

and 2000, the population of thecapital, Kinshasa, had grown bymore than one million people.With its population deeplyimpoverished and its food supplydisrupted, Kinshasa was facingsevere food shortages and risingrates of child malnutrition.

In the face of this adversity,resourceful Kinois revived anage-old survival strategy. Across the city, residents begangrowing vegetables and root

crops around their homes, onvacant lots and along roads andstreams. e area under marketgardens in and around the cityalso expanded rapidly. Many ofthe new growers were displacedrural people who had settled onthe city’s outskirts.

For the national governmentand FAO, that spontaneousgrowth of urban and peri-urbanhorticulture (or UPH, for short)presented an opportunity –

to look beyond the country’simmediate needs for emergencyfood aid and to sow new seeds of hope.

Together, they launched aproject aimed at building avibrant UPH sector that wouldcontribute to urban foodsecurity, improved nutrition andsustainable livelihoods in thefuture.

The project in the Democratic Republic of theCongo is implemented by the country’s Ministryof Rural Development, with assistance from theFood and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations (FAO). Launched in June 2000, it wasextended to a second phase starting in October2004 and to a four-year third phase fromJanuary 2008. Funding totalling US$10.4 millionhas been provided by Belgium.

The project is under way in five cities:Kinshasa (population: 8.7 million) Located

on the south bank of the Congo River, Kinshasa isthe capital city and the second largest city insub-Saharan Africa

Lubumbashi (population: 1.5 million)Lying at 1 200 m, Lubumbashi is the country’ssecond largest city and capital of mineral-richKatanga Province

Kisangani (population: 810 000) Some2 000 km from the mouth of the Congo River,Kisangani is the country’s third largest city

Likasi (population: 370 000) A miningcentre on the Likasi River in Katanga Province,140 km northwest of Lubumbashi

Mbanza-ngungu (population: 100 000)A hill town located some 120 km southwest of Kinshasa

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tHE ProJEcts

support to the development of urban and peri-urban horticulturetHE countrYs

democratic republic of the congo

Area: 2 344 860 sq kmPopulation: 67.8 millionPopulation growth rate: 2.6% a yearUrban population: 23.9 million (35.2%) Urban population growth rate: 4.5% a yearGDP per capita per year: US$298Life expectancy at birth: 47.6 yearsLiteracy rate: 67.2%Number of undernourished: 51 million (76%)Infant mortality rate: 205/1000 live birthsHuman Development Index country ranking: 176/182Sources: FAO, UNDP, UN

Congolese displaced by fighting in the country’s eastern provinces

An FAO project review mission visits a market garden in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo


The project’s first phasefocused on the cities of Kinshasa andLubumbashi. Its goalwas to expand anddiversify the

consumption of horticulturalproduce, while creating jobs andgenerating income for small-scaleurban and peri-urban vegetablegrowers.

When the project began in June2000, urban and peri-urbanhorticulture was producing anestimated 30 000 tonnes of vegetablesa year in Kinshasa and 2 250 tonnes inLubumbashi. While some vegetableswere being grown in householdgardens for family consumption andon a few large commercial farms, the

mainstay of production were the5 000 small-scale market gardenersfarming an area of 1 000 ha inKinshasa and less than 100 ha inLubumbashi.

Producers in and around Kinshasacultivated plots as small as 300 sq m,and growing and selling vegetableswas their only source of income.Some had been organized underprevious government programmesinto growers’ associations of from 10 to 20 members. About one third of the growers were women.

Fruit and vegetable consumption inthe two cities was less than half of theFAO/WHO minimum recommendedintake of 400 g per head per day. Butthere was great potential forproduction increases: both cities hadan ample supply of labour(particularly rural immigrantsfamiliar with crop production) and,around Lubumbashi especially,sizeable areas of fertile land suitablefor horticulture. In 2000, market gardens

in Kinshasa produced mainly traditionalvegetables, such asamaranth

In Lubumbashi, vegetable growersprepare a seedling nursery

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a sector in disarray. An earlier FAObaseline study of the country’s urbanand peri-urban horticulture sectorhad identified a number ofconstraints to its sustainabledevelopment:� Lack of clear government policies

and strategies supporting the sector.Urban and peri-urban horticulturewas almost completely unregulated.Although the government hadcreated a National Support Servicefor Urban and Peri-urbanHorticulture (SENAHUP) in 1996,civil strife and unplanned urbangrowth had left the sector indisarray.

� Lack of secure tenure over land usedfor vegetable production. Mostsmall growers were operating onvacant lots, without permits or landtitles from municipal authorities. InKinshasa, even growers’cooperatives had no legal title tothe land they cultivated. Withoutsecure tenure, growers’ livelihoodswere precarious and they had littleincentive to invest in production.

� Limited access to water, andinadequate irrigation and drainage.Floods paralysed production at theheight of the October-May rainyseason, while the lack of irrigationreduced the cultivable area duringthe June-September dry season.

� Low output and a limited numberof species and varieties. Productiontechnologies were rudimentary andyields were low. Mineral fertilizerwas generally unavailable, whileimproved seed was costly and itssupply irregular. Average tomatoyields were less than 8 tonnes inLubumbashi, compared to a worldaverage of around 30 tonnes.

� Weak organizations of growers andlack of support services. Growers’associations had little contact withextensionists. Even when inputswere available, the supply oftenfailed to coincide with theproduction calendar. As bank loanswere not available to small growers,the only alternative were high-interest loans from money-lenders.e lack of post-harvest andprocessing facilities forced growersto sell directly from their fields,creating market gluts thatdepressed prices.

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an InstItutIonaLstructurEto suPPortProJEct actIvItIEs

the Ministry of ruraldevelopment’sNational SupportService for Urban andPeri-urban Horticulture(SENAHUP) providesoverall guidancethrough a coordinatorbased in Kinshasa.

sEnaHuP’s municipalhorticultural offices,staffed by a UPHadviser and specialistsin agriculturaleconomics, agriculturalengineering andhorticultural extension,manage projectactivities in each city.

Municipalconsultationcommittees, chairedby city mayors,facilitate theintegration of UPH intourban planning. Theyinclude seniormunicipal officersresponsible foragriculture, urbandevelopment and landaffairs, as well asrepresentatives ofgrowers’ associationsand NGOs.

the Fao countryoffice in Kinshasamanages FAO’sassistance through achief technical adviser.

Fao headquartersin Rome providestechnical support,reviews progress anddraws on lessonslearned in order tooptimize policies,institutionalframeworks andsupport services forUPH in otherdeveloping countries.

Mbanza-Ngungu. UPH adviser Bruno Kitiaka (at left) confers with members of the municipalconsultation committee on growers’ requests for leases to gardening areas

Source: FAO

Women were fetching water inbuckets from sources up to 500 mfrom their plots, and some growersused untreated wastewater.

To overcome those constraints, the project planned a series ofinterventions aimed at strengtheningthe sector’s productive base inKinshasa and Lubumbashi. It put inplace an institutional structure tosupport those activities by linking allproject stakeholders: FAO, theMinistry of Rural Development,municipal authorities, horticulturesupport services and vegetablegrowers.

rights to land. Since most growers wereoperating without permits, theproject helped create a municipalconsultation committee in each city.e committees managed the processof surveying and demarcating existingmarket garden areas and obtainingpermits for the growers or growers’groups that were using them.

Often, “regularization” began withthe registration of informal groups ofgrowers as associations. Once theland and its users had been identified,

Greening Lubumbashi The bustling city of Lubumbashi is a majorcommercial and industrial centre, and the hub forexports of copper and cobalt from Katanga Province.Since 2000, the population has expanded by morethan 50 percent to a conservatively estimated1.5 million inhabitants. Keeping pace with the city’sgrowth, the project has created a flourishing urbanand peri-urban horticulture sector. The area undercommercial horticulture has grown from less than100 ha to almost 725 ha.

Chives growing in Kimwenza valley,a 60 ha market gardening area on

the southern outskirts of the capital

the committees processed theassociations’ requests for permits,usually from the municipal landsdepartment. During Phase 1, thecommittees arranged leases for600 ha of land in Kinshasa and150 ha in Lubumbashi. In somecases, they facilitated agreementsbetween the growers and private orcustomary land owners.

In all, some 3 500 growers in 43 market garden areas of Kinshasaand Lubumbashi were identified for


Today, market gardens ringing the city – and, in some cases, just a few kilometres fromthe city centre – produce more than 60 000 tonnesof fresh vegetables a year. On pages throughoutthis publication, we take a closer lookat Lubumbashi’s UPH sector, and its 7 800small-scale market gardeners.

Lubumbashi

The city’s mayor, Marie Grégoire Tambila Sambwe,says horticulture is a key part of her plans for a “greener Lubumbashi”

Market gardens

Democratic Republic of the Congo

5 km

“Historic” market garden resists urban sprawlNaviundu is one of Lubumbashi’s oldestmarket gardens. When the first growersbegan cultivating amaranth there in 1996,the area was sparsely inhabited. Today, its 8.5 ha of gardens are surrounded by new homes. But the growers’ land rightsare protected from urban sprawl by permitsobtained through the municipalconsultation committee. The SourceNaviundu growers’ association, which has 85 members, now cultivates amaranth,Chinese cabbage and okra, using improvedpractices introduced by the project. Annual vegetable production is estimated at almost 1 000 tonnes.

NaviunduLubumbashi

5 km

Cecile Nsoni cultivates an area of 400 sq m at Naviundu. Regular incomefrom sales of fresh produce has allowed her to pay her child’s school feesand “build a brick house with a tin roof”

Growers at Naviundu employ more than 400 labourers during the maingrowing season from March to July. Average wages are around US$3 a day

In 2004, the project built a small catchment to divert stream water to themarket garden. A fountain supplies water for gardening as well as potablewater for surrounding households

Freshly harvested Chinesecabbage. More than halfof the growers at Naviunduare women

project support. In those areas, theproject launched a series ofinterventions focused on improvingwater management and promotingintensification of production andcultivation of a wider range ofvegetable crops.

In Kinshasa, irrigation, drainageand flood control works helpedgrowers to expand the cultivated areaby an estimated 250 hectares. Forexample, the Kimbanseke marketgardening area grew from 11 ha toalmost 100 ha and the number ofgrowers from 115 to 900. In bothcities, irrigation works improved thequality of water used on crops, andmade water available for longerperiods during the year.

Meanwhile, the national UPHsupport service (SENAHUP), hadopened offices in Lubumbashi and in24 municipalities of Kinshasa, toprovide technical support to thegrowers’ associations. e projectadopted FAO’s Farmer Field Schoolapproach, a system of adult informaleducation organized around regulargroup meetings with extensionists.During Phase 1, SENAHUP organized60 field schools, which trained around720 growers in Kinshasa and 600 inLubumbashi in improved cultivationpractices and technologies.

e project also contractedrecognized national and internationaldevelopment NGOs to channelmicro-credit to growers’ associations.e NGOs processed loan requestsand trained growers in financemanagement. Credit enabled theassociations to buy the inputs –mainly improved seed – they neededto expand production.

In addition to traditional leafyvegetables, such as amaranth, sweetpotato, sorrel and spinach, growersbegan cultivating more profitablecrops, such as spring onions, celery,eggplant, cabbage and tomato. Amajor innovation was theconstruction of covered nurseries thatallowed for the production ofseedlings during the rainy season and,


The project has invested US$1.03 million in buildingor upgrading irrigation infrastructure and floodcontrol works in market garden areas of the fivecities. Growers’ associations provide labour and aretrained to manage and maintain the structures oncecompleted. By 2010, more than 50 water controlworks were in place, providing irrigation anddrainage for 1 500 ha of market gardens. Moreeffective water control has allowed growers toexpand the cultivable area, and to extend thecropping period during the dry season. Side benefit:safe drinking water for neighbouring communities.

IntErvEntIons FocusEd onIMProvInG WatEr ManaGEMEnt

Lubumbashi. A catchment basin (top) at Kaluako,north of the city, provides irrigation waterthroughout the year. Above, a water controlstructure nears completion on a stream at Kilobelobe

Kinshasa. This canal helps irrigate 30 ha of land usedby 1 250 growers in the Kimpoko gardening area

Kisangani. Local residents use water fountains as a sourceof water for household use

in Lubumbashi, protected them fromthe cold during the dry season.

Increased production, profits. Anevaluation of the project in 2003found that it had boostedhorticultural production,employment and growers’ incomes,thanks mainly to expansion of theirrigated area, intensification ofproduction and diversification tomore profitable vegetables. In bothKinshasa and Lubumbashi, theaverage annual income of marketgardeners participating in the projecthad increased from around US$160 ayear to US$600.

e evaluation found that cityauthorities had “engaged positively”with the project by delineating zonesfor horticulture and promotingdialogue between growers’associations and input and serviceproviders through the municipalconsultation committees. e projecthad also strengthened SENAHUP,which was playing a greater role inplanning and monitoring.

e evaluation recommended asecond project phase in Kinshasa andLubumbashi and expansion ofactivities to other cities. Continuedsupport was endorsed at a meeting inKinshasa of United Nations agencies,donors and international NGOs. Areport on the country’s food securitysituation said that while overall foodproduction continued to decline,there had been some positivedevelopments. “e most important,”it said, “is the emergence of urban andperi-urban agriculture. e FAO-assisted horticultural project has hada great impact on those activities.”


Farmer field schools use growers’ own plots as training and demonstration siteswhere they discuss problems and conduct trials of potentially useful technologies.Over the past 10 years, the project has organized 500 field schools for more than9 000 growers on a wide range of topics – from preparation of beds and correctplant spacing to irrigation management and the use of organic fertilizer. Often,participants are “facilitators” – representatives of growers’ associations, who aretrained and later share their knowledge with fellow producers.

Kinshasa. Growers learn the advantages of planting seeds in rowson narrower beds, at right

Mbanza-Ngungu. A field schoolfacilitator discussesthe results of an agro-ecosystemanalysis with members of theAproman growers’ association

Lubumbashi. At a field school, growers use peat blocks to transplant tomato seedlings

aduLt EducatIonIn GroWErs’ oWn FIELds

Progress in the heart of the cityDuring a severe economic recession in themid-1990s, women living in Lubumbashi’sdowntown neighbourhood of Katuba begangrowing vegetables for their families on athree-hectare field belonging to a localchurch. Later, they formed an association,Maendeleo (meaning “progress” in Swahili),which now has 250 members and producesan estimated 360 tonnes of vegetables a year, most of it for sale through localmarkets. Maendeleo is one of the city’s mostactive associations – facilitators trained by the project conduct regular courses for fellow growers in bed preparation,composting and use of improved varieties.

KatubaLubumbashi

Freshly harvested vegetables arebagged for transport to market

Growing vegetables in Katuba is a community activity. In the peakgrowing season, hundreds of growers are working in their gardens

5 km

Angèle Nsompo earns about US$100 a month from the sale of vegetables

Growers at Katuba say income fromhorticulture has helped them improvetheir houses, pay for school fees and feedtheir families

Watering plants on a Saturday afternoon

As the second phase ofthe project began inOctober 2004, theDemocratic Republicof the Congo wasfirmly set on a path

towards reconciliation andreconstruction. Peace and power-sharing agreements had ended civilstrife in most of the country, andannual GDP was growing at a rate of6.4 percent.

With the security situation steadilyimproving, the project aimed atconsolidating its achievements inKinshasa and Lubumbashi andextending its approach to three othercities: Kisangani, Likasi and Mbanza-Ngungu. Kisangani was chosen aspart of government efforts tostimulate economic recovery inOriental Province, while Mbanza-Ngungu and Likasi were selected fortheir close proximity to technicalsupport services and markets inKinshasa and Lubumbashi.

From lessons learned in the firstfour years, the project based its

Phase 2 interventions on whatbecame known as the “ree-S”approach, which is now central toFAO’s overall strategy for UPHdevelopment:� Secure access to land and water for

horticulture, through regularizationof land titles and irrigation anddrainage works;

� Secure high quality horticulturalproduce, through intensificationand diversification of cropproduction, field demonstrations,pest management training andimproved access to quality seed;

� Secure “ownership” of UPH bystakeholders in the sector, byestablishing horticulture as aprofitable, sustainable livelihood,improving growers’ access to creditand strengthening support services. Implementation of the “ree-S”

approach was ensured at nationallevel by closer integration of theproject with the programme ofSENAHUP. Within 12 months of thelaunch of Phase 2, municipalhorticulture offices and municipal


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Growingseason

A field of onions in the Mpiangu valley,Mbanza-Ngungu

consultation committees werefunctioning in Kisangani, Likasi andMbanza-Ngungu.

In the three “new cities”, the projectfirst identified market garden areaswhich were to be targets forinterventions. Although small-scalegrowers were already organized ingroups, most groups were not legallyrec ognized and lacked secure title totheir plots.

In Likasi, the municipalconsultation committee arrangedleases to two-thirds of the city’sexisting market gardens for 38associations, representing 1 500growers. In Mbanza-Ngungu, surveysidentified 200 ha under commercialhorticulture and 1 500 operators,more than half of them women.Agreements between the town’smunicipal consultation committeeand the growers’ associationsprovided secure tenure over 18 areastotalling 112 hectares. In Kisangani,all nine of the city’s market gardeningzones were secured through leases ofup to 10 years.

In Kinshasa and Lubumbashi,meanwhile, the project helpedassociations gain secure title to 10 ofthe city’s 23 project sites andexpanded its assistance to a total of11 800 vegetable growers. By 2008,growers participating in the project inLubumbashi had won secure access totwo-thirds of the market garden area.e city’s vegetable growers wereorganized in 130 associations and intwo cooperatives for input supply andcredit.

During Phase 2, the projectprovided almost US$750 000 forirrigation, drainage and flood controlworks in the five cities. In Kinshasa,the construction of 10 small-scaleirrigation systems helped reducewatering times from nine to fourhours per day, and cut by almost halfthe average distance from watersources to plots (from 50 m to 30 m).

In Likasi, the project introduceddrip irrigation systems, whileinterventions in Mbanza-Ngungu


To ensure the safety of produce, the project introduced FAO’sIntegrated Production and Pest Management (IPPM) approach,which helps reduce the need for pesticides. After studying commonproblems – such as bacterial wilt, aphids and spider mite – growerstested bio-pesticides based on papaya leaf, tobacco, garlic, tephrosiaand lemongrass. To record their findings, growers use IPP cards –one showing a current cultivation practice and its related pest ordisease problem and one showing a “better practice” in line with theIPPM principles. So far, the project has generated more than 200pairs of IPP cards.

Before and after:IPP cardsrecommendstaking to avoidfungal disease of tomato

controLLInG PEsts,WItHout toxIc PEstIcIdEs

Mbanza-Ngungu. A grower(top) tests a bio-pesticide,based on tephrosia leaves,against onion thrip. Above, achili mix is prepared for use asa bio-pesticide by growers inthe Zamba market garden

Likasi. Growers harvesting onions from a trial plot where they tested integrated pest management

Bernard Mwelwa grows capsicum, cabbage and tomatoes and earns around US$200 a month – less than a copper miner, he says, “but the work is more pleasant”

The start of a 6 km long canal, one of the project’s first interventions

A gardener and family prepare bunches of onions for sale

A grower waters his field of white cabbage

Kilobelobecity’s “home garden” providesfresh produce, employmentLocated 20 km east of Lubumbashi, the Kilobelobe market garden is the city’sbiggest producer of leafy vegetables, such as beets, cabbage, sweet potato leavesand spinach. Total vegetable output isestimated at almost 15 000 tonnes a year.The secret of Kilobelobe’s success is its goodquality soil and ample water supply – one of the project’s first interventions was to build a small water regulation structureand a canal that feeds water to the entire55 ha area. Some 720 growers have gardensin Kilobelobe and provide employment for up to 4 000 labourers.

Lubumbashi

5 km

KamilombeGreen acres attract traders Measuring around 70 ha, the almostperfectly flat Kamilombe market gardencurls along the Kafubu river about 2 kmsouth of Kilobelobe. Here, the area’s 300 market gardeners grow cabbage,celery, capsicum, onion and leekpractically all year round. Traders comefrom the city to harvest produce andconsign it to transporters, who haul it by bicycle to Pande market, 12 km away.Kamilombe’s annual vegetable productionis estimated at 14 500 tonnes.

Lubumbashi

Growers on their way to work pass a field of emerging cabbagesAlthough water is supplied by irrigation canals, watering at Kamilombe is still done by hand

5 km

Katanga Musonda bicycles to Kamilombe twice a day to collect vegetables and transport them to Pande market

Elizabeth Kaulu with daughter Alpha, the youngest of her eight children.She cultivates a plot of 80 m by 90 m all year round

included construction of two smalldams. In Kisangani, wherehorticulture was limited to therelatively flood-free months ofDecember to February, new floodcontrol basins helped extend thegrowing season.

More power to growers’ associations. Amajor aim of Phase 2 was to improvethe growers’ technical capacity andskills in enterprise management, andto give their associations a greaterrole in organizing training and basicservices. e project helped growersset up demonstration plots to testnew crops and cultivation techniques,and enlisted “pilot farmers” tomultiply improved plant material andproduce seedlings.

e Farmer Field Schoolprogramme was expanded, both totrain facilitators selected among thegrowers and to cover a wider range ofproduction issues, such as nurserymanagement, floriculture and soilfertilization. In all, the projectorganized more than 200 schools in the five cities, involving some 3 500 growers.

In Kinshasa, SENAHUP organizedmanagement training for 200 officersof growers’ associations, as well as 50 farmer field schools involving1 500 producers. A review ofKinshasa’s UPH sector in 2007 saidthat the project “excelled in technicalsupport”, providing specialists toassist growers for 12 days a month. It also noted an increase in the supplyof seed and fertilizer.

In Mbanza-Ngungu, the municipalhorticulture office organized 47 fieldschools, trained 60 facilitators, and


The project supplies seeds ofimproved varieties for trials bygrowers’ associations, andencourages them to share theresults through Hortivar(www.fao.org/hortivar), FAO’sonline, geo-referenced databaseon cultivar performance andappropriate cropping practices. InLubumbashi, project staff addedmore than 800 entries to Hortivar,based on trial results. In turn,growers regularly consult Hortivarto identify promising varieties and improve their cultivationpractices. Thanks to the project,the Democratic Republic of theCongo has become a majorcontributor to Hortivar, with more than 1 700 entries by November 2010.

dEMonstratIon PLotstEst nEW croPsand cuLtIvatIontEcHnIquEs

Likasi. In the Panda market garden, trials of a high-yielding white cabbagehybrid variety

Lubumbashi. Production of amaranth seedsKinshasa. Growers test improved varieties of beetroot,chives, cabbage and onion

Field school facilitatorsin Likasi at the end

of a 16-week training course

conducted specialized training at thegrowers’ request on composting, bio-pesticides and accounting. eKisangani office organized 32 fieldschools attended by 480 growers, halfof them women. In Likasi, some 520growers took part in field schools thatfocused on the use of bio-pesticidesand organic fertilizers.

e project’s approach to micro-credit was also reviewed andimproved. e lack of a “repaymentculture” among vegetable growers –stemming from long exposure toemergency aid – had led to high loandefault rates. In Phase 2, therefore,the project set criteria for assessingassociations’ “credit rating”, while itsNGO partners provided practicaltraining in bookkeeping, accounting,financial planning and the value ofsavings.

In Kinshasa, loans were invested ingrowing higher value vegetable crops,as well as in micro-enterprises,including the construction of inputstores and composting units. Oneassociation invested in small-scale pigfarming, which had an added benefit:the pigs also provided organicfertilizer for the vegetable gardens. InLubumbashi, one project assessmentreported, “80 percent of women nowown farm tools thanks to micro-credit”.

e project also took a newdirection by encouraging schools tostart their own vegetable gardens. Itprovided tools, seed and practicaladvice to help start gardens at a totalof 40 schools in Kinshasa,Lubumbashi, Kisangani, Likasi andMbanza-Ngungu.

Lower rents, higher incomes. As Phase 2neared its end in 2007, the projectwas providing assistance to some17 350 small-scale market gardenersworking an area of 1 900 ha. Anevaluation mission found that theproject had helped growers obtainsecure title to 1 120 hectares of land,with term of leases ranging from oneor two years in Lubumbashi to 10 years in one area of Kinshasa. Oneeffect of increasingly secure tenurefor growers was a decline in the rentbeing charged for land.

In all five cities, growers hadexpanded the cultivated area andextended production into the rainyseason. anks to increasedproductivity, market gardeners’incomes had risen significantly. InKisangani, where many growers wereadopting profitable new crops, suchas green beans, cabbage, carrots andlettuce, the average monthly incomeof a market gardener had risen fromUS$18 to US$60. Between March2005 and March 2007, the averageincome of market gardeners in Likasirose from US$70 to US$160 a month,and in Kinshasa from US$50 toUS$142.

e evaluation recommended athird phase of the project aimed atapplying its approach within anationwide initiative for UPHdevelopment. In support of the newphase, the mission called forstreamlining procedures for theissuance of land permits. It alsorecommended action to promoteschool gardens, improve post-harvestmanagement and processing, andincrease the consumption of fruitsand vegetables.


Between 2000 and 2010, the projectdisbursed to market gardeners loansworth US$1.08 million for investmentin crop production and other income-generating activities. Most of thatcredit was channelled through “micro-banks” managed by development NGOsand growers’ own associations. Eachmicro-caisse serves from 50 to 75growers, who contribute 20 percent ofthe loan amount for approvedactivities. The loans, averaging US$60per grower, are used mainly to buyinputs and farm tools, or invested insmall-scale enterprises, such asseedling nurseries, composting unitsand small-scale animal production.

Growers in Kisanganitripled their average incomesby switching to moreprofitable crops,such as beans

EnaBLInGGroWErsto BuYtHE InPutstHEY nEEd

Lubumbashi. The president of a growers’association (at right) signs an agreement witha development NGO for a loan to buy seed,compost and bio-pesticides

Likasi. A course in micro-credit management forofficers from 72 growers' associations

Kinshasa. A growers’ association used credit tostart a profitable business making nutrient-richfertilizer in a vermicomposting unit

a brisk trade in locally grown produceA pavilion built with project support inLubumbashi’s Pande market in 2003 nowserves as the main hub for the marketing of horticultural produce grown at Kilobelobeand Kamilombe. The pavilion hosts some 30 vendors, most of them women, who reportincomes of up to US$50 a day. Thanks to the project, the vendors say, locally grownvegetables have replaced produce that, untilrecently, was imported from neighbouringZambia. Business is so brisk that the vendorshave requested at least three times morespace in order to meet consumer demand.

Vendor Kally Nyembo (at right)buys vegetables directlyfrom market gardeners

in Kilobelobe

A steady stream of transporters delivers fresh produce from the city’speri-urban market gardens

Scenes from a typical day in Pande market

The pavilion newly constructed

5 km

Pande marketLubumbashi


By 2008, the DemocraticRepublic of the Congohad finally achieved thestability it needed for itssustainable socio-economic development.

Multiparty presidential elections in2006 – the first since 1960 – hadgiven the country a broad coalitiongovernment committed to drasticallyimproving the Congolese people’sliving conditions within a generation.

In the agriculture sector, thegovernment was preparing anagriculture master plan giving fullrecognition to the role of urban andperi-urban horticulture in ensuring

food and nutrition security andalleviating urban poverty. It was alsoimplementing constitutional reformsthat would decentralize agriculturalplanning and decision-making toprovincial governments.

e third phase of the project,which began in January 2008, iscontributing to the country’s recoveryby laying the foundations for UPHdevelopment programmes at nationaland provincial levels.

It is helping to set up municipalconsultation committees in allprovincial capitals, and sponsoringworkshops to formulate horticulturaldevelopment plans for each province.Meanwhile, SENAHUP has openednew offices in eight cities.

“Five-s” approach. Building on thestrategy validated in Phase 2 –securing access to land and water,improving the quality of produce andprofessionalizing growers – theproject has developed a “Five-S”approach with two new objectives.

Because vegetable consumption is


Phas

e thr

ee: 2

008-

2012Harvest

Horticulture Day in Lubumbashi. The keyto increased productionis boosting demand

Traders harvest crops directlyfrom growers’ fields

still below FAO/WHO recommendedlevels, FAO says the key to increasedproduction is interventions focusedon boosting demand. One of the newobjectives, therefore, is to secureincreased consumption of fruits andvegetables by offering consumers awider variety of safe, quality produce,promoting school gardens, andcreating a more efficient horticulturesupply chain.

e project is sponsoring publicinformation campaigns, investing inthe construction or improvement ofneighbourhood markets, andencouraging the labelling of produceto build consumer confidence.

e project’s second new objectiveis to secure capitalization ofmethodologies and technologiesdeveloped over the past decade, andto transfer the project’s approach toother cities of the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo and to otherAfrican countries. e project isbringing together all municipal UPHadvisers for regular consultations, andpreparing manuals for trainers andbriefing kits for decision-makers.

It has sponsored regional dialogueon UPH with neighbouring countries,such as Burundi, Rwanda andZambia, and forged links with theDimitra programme, a Belgium-funded initiative that sharesdevelopment ideas and good practicesthroughout Africa.

taking stock. In July 2010, FAO tookstock of the project’s achievementssince 2000. It found that the project isnow assisting directly some 16 100vegetable growers working an area of2 000 ha in and around Kinshasa,Lubumbashi, Kisangani, Likasi andMbanza-Ngungu.

Project sites account for more thanhalf the total area dedicated tocommercial horticulture in the fivecities. Secure land tenure to 1 225 hahas been guaranteed through leases,permits and zoning facilitated by theproject.

Water control structures, built or


The project has helped establish vegetable gardens in 74 primary schools and high schools.School gardens are powerful tools for improving child nutrition: they familiarize children with horticulture, provide fresh food for healthy school meals and help teachers develop nutrition courses. When replicated at home, they improve family nutrition. In 2010, more than 18 700 students were participating in the project’s school gardens programme. One objective of Phase 3 is to foster a national programme in collaboration with health and education ministries and WHO.

tooLs, sEEds and PractIcaL advIcEFor scHooL GardEnErs

Lubumbashi. At the Maadini school, children clear scrub,prepare seed beds and tend their cabbage nursery

Mbanza-Ngungu. Pupils of the Kola primary school at work on their school garden

With drip irrigation, intensified productionTshamalale represents the future of Lubumbashi’s urbanand peri-urban horticulture sector. On 6 ha of land on thecity’s western outskirts, three growers’ associations dugfive wells 5 m deep to tap into the area’s rich groundwaterresources. Then they used a project loan to buy a low-pressure drip irrigation system for their fields of tomatoes,cabbages, green beans, onions and zucchini. The areacurrently produces around 2.5 tonnes of produce a week,all year round, for sale mainly to the city’s supermarkets.The project is using Tshamalale to train other marketgardeners in sustainable intensification of production.

TshamalaleLubumbashi

Five wells 5 m deepprovide water toTshamalale’s fields

The wells supply groundwater to cabbage fields througha low-pressure drip irrigation system

5 km

A field of ripening tomatoes at Tshamalale

The onion nursery

A drainage canal dug through marshes helped increase the cultivable areafrom 4 to 6 ha

upgraded, now provide water formarket gardens throughout the yearin Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Kisanganiand Likasi, and have extended wateravailability from four months to eightmonths in Mbanza-Ngungu.

rough farmer field schoolsinvolving a total of 350 growers’associations, the project hasintroduced and disseminated newproduction and processingtechnologies, and doubled to 50 thenumber of vegetable varieties beinggrown. Organic fertilizers and bio-pesticides are steadily replacing moreexpensive chemical fertilizers andsynthetic pesticides. More than75 percent of growers are usingimproved seed and have adoptedother good practices – soilpreparation, crop diversification,improved nursery management andcrop rotation.

anks mainly to the project,vegetable production in Kinshasa hasincreased from an estimated 30 000tonnes in 2000 to around 80 000tonnes in 2009. e city’s marketgardens now account for 65 percentof its vegetable supply. In Lubum-bashi, the area under commercialhorticulture has grown from less than100 ha in 2000 to 720 ha, andproduction from 2 250 tonnes to anestimated 60 000 tonnes. Womenthere make up more than 70 percentof growers benefiting from projectactivities.

Meanwhile, growers in Mbanza-Ngungu are shifting to highlyprofitable cultivation of potatoes,achieving yields of up to 30 tonnesper hectare, and the town is nowsupplying seed potatoes to farmers inKinshasa. In Likasi, the averagemonthly income of the city’svegetable growers is almost US$300 amonth, compared to less than US$70five years earlier.

In all cities, the project haspromoted simple post-harvesttechnologies for popular vegetables –for example, chili paste is being soldin local supermarkets. Market


Of the more than 16 000 growers participating in Phase 3of the project, almost 10 000 are women. In Lubumbashi, morethan 6 000 women have taken out micro-credit loans over thepast 10 years, using them to buy inputs and farm tools.Thanks to training through farmer field schools, the womennow cultivate 15 types of leafy vegetables, compared to justfour when the project began. Some women have also investedin small-scale livestock, dressmaking and child-careenterprises. Higher incomes mean improved child nutrition –one study found that market gardeners’ children ate onaverage 3.3 meals a day, compared to “less than two” whenthe project began.

InvEstInG In WoMEn – and tHE nExt GEnEratIon

Likasi. Members of the Hodari Mothers’ association, who grow vegetables in the Nguya area 18 km from the city centre

Mbanza-Ngungu. A bumper crop of cabbage in the Kinzau market garden

Lubumbashi. Thanks to micro-credit,many women can afford pedal-pumps

collection and sales points have beenconstructed or improved in15 neighbourhoods to link growers toconsumers.

Because they are cultivating largerar eas with more profitable crops,market gardeners have higher profitmargins, and are better able to meethealth and child care costs. In 2000,less than 30 percent of growers inKinshasa and less than 20 percent ofthose in Lubumbashi said they hadcash reserves. Today, the proportionhas reached 80 percent in Kinshasaand almost 100 percent inLubumbashi. Savings are beinginvested in children’s education andhome improvements, and manygrowers have opened accounts withcredit unions or banks.

FAO concluded that the “Five-S”approach to UPH development hasproduced a truly bountiful harvest. Bysecuring growers’ access to land andwater, and registering theirassociations as formal organizations,the project stabilized the sector andprovided the basis for its sustainabledevelopment. e technical guidanceand capacity building providedthrough farmer field schools haveproven effective in improving thequantity, quality and safety ofhorticultural produce.

Finally, the decade-longcollaboration between FAO,SENAHUP and municipal authoritieshas laid a solid foundation fornational and provincial programmesfor UPH development. FAO believesthat the project in the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo will serve as aplatform for dissemination ofsustainable urban and peri-urbanhorticulture in the Great Lakes sub-region of Africa, and beyond.


MEasurEs oF IMPact

4000

3500

3000

2500

500

1000

2000

1500

0Kinshasa Lubumbashi LikasiKisangani Mbanza-

Ngungu

20042010

average annual income of marketgardeners (US$)

1200

1000

200

400

800

600


Ngungu

Under secure tenureTotal

Market gardens covered by projectactivities, 2010 (hectares)

3000

4000

2000

2500

3500

500

1000

1500

0 Kinshasa Lubumbashi LikasiKisangani Mbanza-Ngungu

number of market gardeners attending field schools, 2000-2010

300

350

250

200

100

50

150


Loans disbursed to market gardeners, 2000-2010 (US$ thousands)

6000

5000

1000

2000

4000

3000


Ngungu

Women

Men

number of market gardenersparticipating in project, 2010

6000

7000

5000

4000

2000

1000

3000


number of students participating in school gardens programme, 2010

Source: FAO/SENAHUP

“all of my life is here”In 2004, Irène Kalenga joined fellow growers at the Kashamatamarket garden in digging a 3 km-long canal to divert water from the Kafubu river to their fields. It took them three months,using machetes, picks and shovels, and a route survey carried outby the project. Their hard labour now provides a year-roundwater supply that has allowed them to expand their vegetablegardens from 3.5 ha to 9 ha. “All of my life is here,” says growerIrène Kalenga, who earns monthly income of around US$375 from the sale of cabbages, onions, tomatoes and eggplant.

KashamataLubumbashi

Belgium’s Minister of Development Cooperation, Charles Michel (centre),visits the Kashamata canal in 2009

Two growers’ associations with 71 members cultivate vegetablesat Kashamata

The canal provides water to 9 ha of vegetable gardens

Route of the canal

Irène Kalengabeside her fields at Kashamata

5 km

Partners in urban and peri-urban horticulture

Ministry of Rural Development,Democratic Republic of the Congo Boulevard du 30 juin, Commune de la Gombe, Kinshasa

The Ministry promotesUPH through its NationalSupport Service for Urban

and Peri-urban Horticulture(SENAHUP), which has municipalhorticultural offices in 13 cities.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsViale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy

FAO’s Programme for Urbanand Peri-urban Horticulturehelps governments and city

administrations to optimize policies,institutional frameworks and supportservices for UPH, to improve productionand marketing systems, and toenhance the horticulture value chain.

Belgian Development CooperationRue des Petits Carmes, 15 B-1000 Brussels, Belgium

Belgium has providedfunding of US$15 millionin support of FAO-

assisted projects for UPH developmentin Bolivia, Burundi, the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire andNamibia, and for an ongoing globalinitiative aimed at disseminatinglessons learned.

Project staff

National project coordinatorIsraël Nyamugwabiza (SENAHUP)FAO Chief technical adviser Bruno Telemans (2000-2008)Michel Gerard (2008- )FAO Associate professional officerJudicaël Azehoun PazouNational consultant Nseya Lessime

Municipal Horticultural Offices

KinshasaLumenga Nasakamur (UPH adviser)Friti MubialaLidjongo Ngombe ColetteOlomba EugenieMatindi Batakuau Guylaine

Lubumbashi Mushail Mutomb Kangaji (UPH adviser)Beby Kayombo KarumbuNgity MboneMunga EnzyaMuthunda Muyeketa

Kisangani Sandja Bilambo (UPH adviser)Mwarabu Esinga LilaPaluku Nzibake

LikasiKindola Wa Ngabo Joseph (UPH adviser)Mandale KipandeKitambo MulimbiBenda Kambale Roger

Mbanza-NgunguKitiaka Mfum’Andem (UPH adviser)Bananga BaboLusilabo KimbongilaLuamba Di Mvuezolo

PhotographsCover: G.Thomas/FAOp.2: FAO/SENAHUPp.3: UNPhoto/M.Perretp.4 (from top): Grégoire Mutshail,FAO/SENAHUPpp.5-7: FAO/SENAHUPpp.8-9: G.Napolitano/FAOp.9 (from top): G.Napolitano/FAO (1,4),FAO/SENAHUPpp.10-12: FAO/SENAHUPp.13 (from top): G.Napolitano/FAO(1,2), FAO/SENAHUPp.14: Bruno Kitiakap.15: FAO/SENAHUPp.16 (from top): FAO/SENAHUP (1,3,4),G.Napolitano/FAOp.18: G.Napolitano/FAOp.19 (from left): FAO/SENAHUP,G.Napolitano/FAOpp.20-21: FAO/SENAHUPp.22: G.Napolitano/FAOp.24 (from top): G.Napolitano/FAO,FAO/SENAHUPpp.25-32: FAO/SENAHUP

satellite imageryDigitalGlobe

text and designGraeme Thomas and Giulio Sansonetti Research: Diana Gutiérrez

Special thanks to the citizens of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo

The FAO/SENAHUP project office in Lubumbashi

Lubumbashi project staff

FAO’s Programme for Urbanand Peri-urban HorticulturePlant Production and ProtectionDivision (AGP)Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United NationsViale delle Terme di Caracalla00153 Rome, Italy

[email protected]/ag/agp/greenercities/

Produced witha contribution fromBelgian DevelopmentCooperation

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