Mozambique: Farmers to receive funding under SUSTENTA program

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Mozambique: Farmers to receive funding under SUSTENTA program

2:28 CAT | 03 Sep 2020

This Wednesday saw the end of the application window for small emerging commercial farmers to receive funding under the national SUSTENTA program. More than 320,000 producer families have applied countrywide, and more than US$100 million is available for the 2020-2021 agricultural campaign.
Through SUSTENTA, families engaged in agriculture have the opportunity to access various lines of financing to make their activities viable and expand production.

In Zambézia province, more than 70,000 families submitted applications.

Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Celso Correia says that this number of families interested in accessing financing and other incentives offered by the state is a good sign, and reveals a deep commitment to produce and supply the market.

“In addition to these more-than 70,000 families that have signed up, there are more than 700 semi-commercial production units that will play an integrating role. We are above what was expected, not only in Zambézia, but at national level, where we have about 320,000 families, far above initial projections. This shows that there is great demand for the services that SUSTENTA offers at national level,” Correia said.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development announced that, once applications are completed, the selection phase of the business plans submitted would follow.

“We want to see the value chains working. The last time we were in Zambézia, we went to visit some stalled industries, and we expect to reactivate them as soon as next year so as to achieve sustainable economic activity,” Correia explained.

Those who present adequate proposals for producing cash crops in the 2020-2021 growing season will be able to access SUSTENTA services, credit financing and integration into value chains.

“For the whole country, we have a flexible budget,” Correia said. “We do not have an exact amount, because everything depends on the requests that come in, but we are talking about injecting US$100 million to US$200 million directly into families in the first year, and we are still growing,” Correia said.

Agricultural extension workers and district administrators have been trained in Zambézia in matters like productive value chains, with the aim of improving the quality of life of rural households through the promotion of sustainable agriculture.

The training process started on August 5th and will train more than 4,200 extension workers in the SUSTENTA approach.

According to Adélia Magaia, national director of family assistance, by 2024 the SUSTENTA programme should cover around one million farming families, removing from poverty more than three million individuals.

Extension workers were unanimous in agreeing that agricultural production still faced constraints, such as access to the market and an inadequate road network.

By Jorge Marcos