Maize commodity assessment and workplan related to maize

Maize is by far the most important cereal crop produced and consumed in the DRC. Maize has many advantages: a short 3 to 4 month growing period, easy harvesting and processing, easy conservation, responsive to fertilizer applications, no major diseases or pests devastating the crop. Moreover, together with the major food staple in the DRC which is cassava, maize flour is now commonly mixed in the main dish ("fufu"). Maize is also consumed fresh as a snack food (on the cob). It is roughly estimated that maize consumption per capita has tripled in Kinshasa since a decade. In addition, maize is the main cereal used in animal feed, especially for poultry, for which the market is growing fast in the DRC. Maize imports for the Kinshasa market are also growing, especially from the major (wheat) miller and animal feed manufacturer, MIDEMA, and from the WFP for food aid (corn-soy blends). Maize in the project area is mainly produced for the market without any external inputs by smallholder farmers in Kwilu district on the more fertile soils, especially in the Karroo valleys. Maize is also grown more and more on the Bateke plateau near Kinshasa by often large commercial farms, which usually use some external inputs (seeds, fertilizers). The focus of the project is however on the many resource poor smallholder farmers (mainly women). Unfortunately, very little maize research was carried out in the DRC in the last decades. No multilocational variety or fertilizer trials were done in farmers" fields. Thus, no on-the-shelf technologies ready for large scale extension are available. The two dominant composite varieties which are grown (Kasai I and Samaru) were released from the P.N.M. (USAID financed) more than two decades ago and are probably degenerated. No commercial seed firms selling maize seed in the project area exist, although there are now SENASEM supervised and accredited agro-multiplicateurs which produce on demand. Lack of improved seeds and appropriate fertilizers are a major constraint on improving maize growing. Post-harvest problems are mainly insufficient drying which lowers the quality, weevil problems and lack of smallscale maize mills. There are some farm organizations in the project area but they are still poorly organized and weak. The primitive "sui generis" marketing system relies on thousands of par-colis traders which buy 10 to 20 sacks of maize in the villages, rent a place on a truck or a boat with their colis and travel for several days from Bandundu or from Bas-Congo to Kinshasa semi-wholesale markets where they sell to women retailers, sack by sack. No weights are used and no grading takes place. There is a lot of risk in trading maize, there is lack of commercial credit, lack of specialization and lack of economies of scale. It is a real challenge to introduce institutional innovations in that system that improve efficiency and market performance. This is a major challenge for the project. This report presents at the end input for the finalization of the workplan related to maize. Priority actions are listed which follow from the assessment. However, it appears that no quick wins or fast impact actions are available as maize production and marketing in the project area has been neglected by the government of the DRC and donors for more than two decades. (Excutive summary)