Mozambique: CTA calls for President's intervention to unblock pigeon pea exports to India
Photo courtesy of Jackson Vasco Joaquim Intama
Residents of Namarroi district, in the central Mozambican province of Zambezia, on Tuesday asked President Filipe Nyusi for an agro-processing unit to add value to fruit production in this district.
The request came at a rally addressed by Nyusi on the second day of a four day working visit to Zambezia.
In response, Nyusi promised to encourage agro-processing, but he warned that this type of unit requires high levels of production of raw material, if it is to operate all year round.
He spoke of the experience of the southern province of Inhambane, which he toured last week where a private investor promised to build a factory to process pineapples, only to find that the local production of pineapples was too small to make this venture viable.
“Because a factory can’t be built, if it’s only going to operate for a week, the solution found was to acquire fruit from other parts of the country, and for the investor himself to cultivate pineapples and mangoes”, sad Nyusi. “Your request is very good. But it’s also important for us to increase our levels of production”.
The Namarroi district administrator, Chabene Jalilo, seconded the request, stressing that the region is a major producer of grain, pulses, root vegetables, various fruits and cash crops such as sunflower and soya.
To underline this point, the Namarroi crowd offered Nyusi three tonnes of maize and various other agricultural produce. The President insisted that this food must be offered to hospitals to feed their patients.
Speakers at the rally also asked Nyusi for improvements to the access roads, for the construction of an operating theatre, and for the opening of at least one bank branch in the district.
Nyusi replied that his government has been working to convince the commercial banks to ensure that there is at least one bank branch in every district. “We expect that, by the end of next year, each district will have at least one bank. If we fail, we shall come and explain what happened”, he promised.
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