Impact of farm income on the development of peasant agriculture in Bosobolo Sector (Nord Ubangi) in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of agricultural income on the socio-economic standard of living of farmers. The survey was conducted among 40 people (15 women and 25 men). The study revealed that the average size of agricultural households is 10.5 persons with a profit margin of 464 dollars; the allocation of income in the agricultural sector is only 0.43%, i.e. an average of 2.39 dollars per household, while food accounts for 85.4% of the family budget, schooling for 29.4%, clothing for 25.1%, leisure activities for 18.1% and medical care for 5.0% of income. In addition, the income generated by agricultural activity and the amount reinvested in agriculture are not likely to promote the development of agriculture in rural Bosobolo. Furthermore, we note that a Bosobolo farm household produces an average of 3,227 kg of cassava, 656 kg of paddy, 528 kg of banana, 419 kg of corn, 91.1 kg of peanuts, 33.0 kg of tomatoes, 18.4 kg of beans and 10.8 kg of soybeans. The low level of agricultural income is explained by the low level of agricultural production due to the degeneration of seeds, traditional cultivation practices, the lack of technical support for farmers, the lack of markets and the advanced state of disrepair of road infrastructure. In addition, the low reinvestment of income from agriculture is a real obstacle to agricultural development in the Bosobolo sector. It is therefore important that the public authorities and international organizations rethink agricultural development aid policies in order to direct them primarily towards peasant agriculture. This should be done by targeting the rehabilitation of seed and broodstock production centers, the dissemination of good farming practices and the construction of agricultural feeder roads. It is also desirable that farmers expand their agricultural activity to the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants of biopharmaceutical interest for export. This will allow the development of sustainable, multifunctional and sustainable peasant agriculture in the province of Nord-Ubangi.

Keywords: Poverty, agricultural policy; economic development, sustainable & multifunctional agriculture, North-Ubangi