Development of arboriculture in peri-urban agricultural concessions at Kinshasa : Towards an innovative fruit agroforestry

Urban Farm DB summary

A study examined the nature of production in peri-urban agricultural concessions in the commune of Mont-Ngafula, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, based on the concept of production systems and questionnaire surveys. The surveyed concessions carry out several types of plant and animal production, and fruit arboriculture is the most important crop type in terms of area occupied and visibility. Its development is linked to the capacity to rapidly develop land and occupy it long-term, the necessary and sufficient conditions for obtaining and keeping the long-term occupation contract, the only land title the Congolese state legally recognizes for agricultural concession users. The paper proposes an innovative fruit agroforestry approach based on participatory domestication of fruit trees with high nutritional and commercial value mixed with food crops and animal production, aimed at increasing food supply in Kinshasa's markets and professionalizing fruit arboriculture.