The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of Africa’s most promising biofuels producers due to its vast amount of farmland suited to a range of crops from palm oil to soybeans, a top UN economist has said. This senior economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), told that the DRC had 80-115 million hectares of unused arable land, 4 million of which could be irrigated. « The DRC and many of the African countries have an enormous agri-ecological potential, ». « They have production potential for more than (sugar) cane: palm oil, maize, jatropha, cassava even soybeans – whatever is suited to tropical and highland conditions. »