Reuters | 30 September 2009

PRETORIA (Reuters) - A multi-million hectare land deal allowing South Africans to farm in the Republic of Congo is expected to be finalised by mid October, South Africa's main farmers union said on Wednesday.

"The minister of Agriculture of the Congo Republic will visit us from 14-22 October to finalise the agreement," Theo de Jager, deputy president of South African farmers union AgriSA, told an agriculture conference.

The deal, one of the biggest land agreements on the continent and part of Congo's plan to improve food security, would give South African farmers 10 million hectares of farm land to grow maize, soya beans as well as poultry and dairy.