Mozambique: Agro-Mozal project covers three more farmers associations

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Mozambique: Agro-Mozal project covers three more farmers associations

2:01 CAT | 09 May 2022

Photo: O País

Three new agricultural producers’ associations in Boane and Namaacha districts, Maputo province, have joined the Agro-Mozal project.

The project currently covers 12 farmer associations, which benefit from support in agricultural inputs and equipment, as well as technical assistance.

The Mata-Fome Association, in Boane district, is one of the three new Agro-Mozal members. Its 25 producers received vegetable seeds, hoes, machetes, watering cans and sprayers from the project.

“We are very happy, because we have suffered for a long time and we have not seen anything like this, ,” said the association’s president Sebastião Tseco. “It is an important initiative, because we worked without knowing why and, today, with this help, we are motivated and we are very grateful.”

Extensionist Celso Matsinhe, who is assisting the Mata-Fome producers, says the inputs and the equipment will significantly improve their production process.

The Associação dos Regantes de Manguiza, also in Boane, joined the Agro-Mozal project for the first time in the current production cycle, and members there cannot hide their satisfaction.

“We are going to make more effort to guarantee production and productivity, because we have much of what we need to work in this second agricultural season,” said president Daniel Silva.

The Agro-Mozal project guarantees the necessary support to boost production and productivity to newly admitted associations.

“We are sure that these three associations that have now been admitted will see their lives transformed through increased production and productivity, with all the assistance and knowledge that the project will provide, including inputs that it will make available, as you can see,” says Patrício Manjate, director of the Agro-Mozal project.

The authorities in Boane district, represented by District Administrator Guilhermina Kumagwele, witnessed the first delivery of inputs to the Regantes of Maguiza, and expressed their commitment to doing everything to justify the support.

“I believe that the farmers will quickly demonstrate the result of the Agro-Mozal support,”Kumagwele said, praising the efforts towards galvanising agricultural production.

In Namaacha, the Association of Strawberry Producers of Namaacha (APMONA) was selected to join the Agro-Mozal project.

Here too, the joy is undisguised, people singing and dancing at the presentation of seeds and equipment, including pumps and components such as automated sprayers which will transform the means of production for the associates.

“We will use it, take good care of it and protect it. We are very grateful to the Agro-Mozal project for these inputs and equipment, which we did not have before,” said the president of the APMONA Association.

The supply truck travelling through Boane and Namaacha brought more than just equipment and supplies: it carries the hope of better days for hundreds of producers.

The Associação Regantes de Mafuiane, which has 237 members and covers an area of 170 hectares, brings with it the impetus in production and the recognition of the farmers themselves.

Amélia Honwana is one of the association’s producers, and a beneficiary of the initiative. “The Agro-Mozal project is going well, we have all the inputs and assistance,” she said.

The 12 associations covered by the initiative have received which has been transforming lives in Boane and Namaacha since 2019.

After the recent rain, it is necessary to take advantage of the fertility of the soils and plant for the second 2021-2022 agricultural season. Extensionist Amilton Nicols, assigned to the district of Namaacha, says that the conditions there promise good results.

More than that, the project aims to empower families and bring economic and social gains. Ana Nhaca manages to pay for her children’s schooling with the gains made in the agricultural fields. thanks to assistance from the Agro-Mozal project.

So far, Agro-Mozal is pleased with its performance.

“The project is satisfied, because the producers are improving their income, their productivity and their lives. The feedback we have is positive – levels of productivity have risen since we incorporated these associations,” Patrício Manjate says.

The Agro-Mozal project is a project of aluminium smelter Mozal, and is implemented by the SOICO Foundation.

By Amandio Borges

Source: O País