Mechanisms to avoid wastage of agricultural production must be put in place

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Mechanisms to avoid wastage of agricultural production must be put in place

4:06 CAT | 12 Oct 2020

Image: O País

In order to avoid the “great wastage of agricultural production”, “mechanisms that allow for [their] concentration, conservation in adequate conditions” must be put in place, Minister of Industry and Commerce Carlos Mesquita argued at the opening of the second MOZGROW meeting today.

Speaking on the theme, “Agro-Industry and Promotion of National Products and Brands”, the minister said the matter was part of the government’s agenda of promoting the consumption of national products in order to boost production, nutrition and valorisation.

Citing the results of the COHA-17 Cost of Hunger in Africa study, Carlos Mesquita said that “the prevalence of 43% of chronic malnutrition in Mozambique in children under 5 years old is equivalent to a loss of about 11% of the country’s annual GDP”.

This percentage corresponds to “US$1.6 billion, that is, about 112 billion meticais per year. It is also estimated that about two million [of the children referred to above] are affected by stunted growth and poor cognitive development”, the minister continued.

Because the government acknowledged malnutrition as a serious public health problem, it had approved the Multisector Action Plan for the Reduction of Chronic Malnutrition, which included, among it strategies, the fortification of foods of mass consumption with vitamins B12, A and D and folic acid for children and women, Minister Mesquita said.

The minister pointed out that “the great wastage of agricultural production and its seasonal nature in general requires the creation of mechanisms that allow for its concentration and conservation in adequate conditions”.

Mesquita said logistics parks and supply markets for the development of vegetables and fruit trade in urban centres such as Matola, Beira and Nampula were required, explaining: “Agricultural commercialisation plays a key role in transporting agricultural products from production areas to consumption areas, and vice versa.”

In the current agricultural marketing campaign, 14,864,367.39 tons of miscellaneous products are expected to be sold, an increase of 8.7% over the 2019 campaign (13,578,155 tons).

“The export monitoring of 200,000 tons of pigeon peas is also underway, the process of which is already around 50%, complete,” the minister detailed.

Up to the first half of this year, according to the Minister, around 6.5 million tons of various products were sold, 45% of what was planned.

To “guarantee the availability of affordable goods and quality services”, the government was “implementing appropriate measures and promoting greater interaction between public and private institutions”.

To face market challenges, companies have to invest in quality, protection of their products (intellectual property), packaging, marketing and certification, all factors that would improve competitiveness and the internationalisation of products and services, Minister Mesquita detailed.

Source: O País