Randomly selected foodcrops in the Congo.

Quinine is the plant with antimalarial properties, making the colonization of Africa possible after it's discovery in the 1850s. It goes well especially with gin (ie when it comes as tonic):


Sweet potato is native to tropical parts of South America, but now also in the DRC:


Sorghum is an important food crop in Africa. One can make bio-fuel like ethanol out of it and, important, also liquor (eg the "maotai" in China). In the DRC they only eat it:


Manioc (or cassava) is also native to South America, but it is the most important food source in Eastern DRC. One eats the roots (one dries them, mashes them and makes foufou out of this) and the leaves (one cooks them and has pondu):


Coffee, like tea, is present in many parts of the DRC. There are two main species of coffee in world; arabica coffee and robusta coffee. The latter tends to be bitter and have less flavor but better body than arabica. The Robusta strain was first collected in 1890 from the Lomani, a tributary of the Congo River:


Just like coffee, the Congo does not have the capability to process tea. The processing plants that once existed were not maintained after the Belgians left, and do not operate anymore. Congo, therefore, mainly exports these crops raw and thus at a very low price. As with their other natural resources (diamonds, coltan, etc.) it are thus especially non-Congolese that earn money of it: