SOUTH Africa has concluded a deal to farm 172000 hectares of land in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but has stalled similar talks with northern African states shaken by political unrest, a farmers' group said yesterday.
Africa's largest economy has one of the most developed agricultural sectors on the continent, and its farmers are looking to expand into other countries.
Agri SA deputy president Theo de Jager said: "We took note of what's happening in Egypt, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, and the deliberations with those countries have been put on the back burner for a while, simply because we don't know where it's going."
De Jager said a deal to farm about 172000 hectares of state-owned land in the DRC for up to 105 years was finalised in December. The deal is part of 10million hectares of vacant land the Congolese government earmarked for crop and livestock farming.
He said there were about 180 South African farmers currently trying to tie up land deals in Congo, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania and other African countries.