Strain Library

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Congolese

Also called Congo, Congo Landrace, Congolese Landrace, Red Congo, Red Congolese

Cannabis, known as diamba, has a documented history in the Congo basin, but a distinct 'Congolese landrace' is harder to pin down. Scholars report that Swahili traders carried the plant inland around the 1850s, and in the 1880s European explorers crossing the Kasai region met the bene diamba, 'children of hemp', a hemp-centred movement. In the seed trade, 'Congo' is a muddy label: a United States plant-collection record notes that Spanish enthusiasts used it for imported African cannabis of uncertain origin, probably later outcrossed. Green House Seed Company's Strain Hunters travelled to the Congo basin around 2016 to collect local seed, and VICE reported on the trip in 2018 without saying whether an original landrace was found.

Region
Congo River basin near Kisangani, Tshopo Province (reported collecting area)
How sure we are
Mostly lore. Cannabis in the Congo basin is documented, but 'Congolese' as a defined landrace rests on a few seed-trade expeditions and a name once used loosely for African imports.
Keep in mind
Seed lines sold as Congo or Congolese are breeder collections or crosses whose link to any specific Congolese plant is uncertain, so no original landrace should be assumed.

Timeline

  1. 1850s Swahili traders from Zanzibar reportedly carry cannabis inland to the Congo region, per an encyclopedia entry citing Vera Rubin's 1975 book. Source
  2. 1880s Explorers Paul Pogge and Hermann von Wissmann cross central Africa; historian Johannes Fabian describes their journey as depending on contact with the bene diamba, 'the children of hemp'. Source
  3. 2016 Arjan Roskam and Franco Loja of Green House Seed Company travel from Kisangani into the jungle to collect seed from Congolese cannabis, per a Canadian magazine. Source
  4. January 2018 VICE publishes a short piece on the hunt for 'the original Congolese landrace'; it relies on the collectors' own statements and does not say whether the plant was found. Source
  5. July 2024 A USDA plant-collection record for an accession named 'Congo' notes the donor's view that the name was used by Spanish growers for imported African cannabis and that the line was likely outcrossed. Source

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Cannabis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (encyclopedia; cites Rubin 1975, Gilman and Zhou 2004)
  2. Fabian (2000), Charisma, Cannabis, and Crossing Africa, in Out of Our Minds, University of California Press (chapter abstract)
  3. Kind Magazine (2021), Good Genes, by Kate Robertson
  4. VICE (2018), We went hunting for a rare Congolese weed strain with the Kings of Cannabis
  5. USDA GRIN-Global, accession G 33866 'Congo' (donor notes, 2024)
  6. Cannabis Business Times (2017), Franco Loja obituary

All landrace strainsThe cannabis timeline

Written from the sources above. Informational only, not medical advice.