In 2024, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries accounted for approximately 6% of the Republic of Congo’s gross domestic product (GDP). The second edition of the Congo’s Grand Agricultural Fair was officially launched on August 5 in Bambou-Mingali, in the Djoué-Léfini department. For about fifteen days, producers, livestock farmers, processors, and partners from the country’s fifteen departments will showcase their expertise. Beyond the exhibition itself, the government intends to use this fair as a catalyst for food sovereignty and economic diversification.
For two weeks, the Bambou-Mingali Exhibition Park has been transformed into a showcase for Congolese agriculture. This second edition of the Congo Agricultural Fair, launched by the President of the Republic on August 5, 2026, brought together nearly 650 exhibitors, including 300 producers from all fifteen departments of the country. The event is structured around 16 pavilions and 5 thematic areas, dedicated in particular to local products, livestock farming, fishing, mechanization, agribusiness, innovation, financing, and agricultural research. For the President of the Republic, food self-sufficiency remains a strategic objective. Denis Sassou Nguesso believes, however, that the momentum is now underway at the national level.
“We launched the slogan of food self-sufficiency at the end of the last century. We were talking about food self-sufficiency in the year 2000, and here we are in 2026. In 2000, we didn’t reach the objectives, as you can see, but we didn’t get discouraged. We continue to believe that people who do not produce what they consume are not free people.”
Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic – Congo
Beyond the exhibition, the fair is a meeting place for producers, processors, investors, researchers, and consumers. Each day highlights a different region to showcase local products, expertise, and investment opportunities in the agricultural sector.
“For us, the fair is also a form of advertising, because many Congolese people don’t know that coffee is grown in Congo, because it was more common during colonial times, and today people are surprised to see that coffee is grown and processed here.”
Eric MPASSI, President of the Lékoumou Farmers and Roasters Cooperative – Congo
“We are market gardeners from the right bank of the Dieu River, specifically in Mayanga. We came to the fair to exhibit the products we grow there in Mayanga. We must eat what we produce, because it’s not good for Congolese people to eat what they don’t produce.”
Victorine Diassouka, Market Gardener – Congo
With its 15 departments united around a common goal, theCongo Agricultural Fair showcases the ambitions of a sector seeking transformation. This is a significant challenge for a country where agriculture still only accounts for about 6% of GDP, despite substantial land potential that remains largely untapped.
