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Mozambique govt approves new agricultural project: ‘Sustenta’ launched on Friday
3:09 CAT | 15 Feb 2017
Notícias
The Mozambican government yesterday approved a new Integrated and Inclusive Rural Development Project (PDRI) designed to promote and finance family agriculture in the country.
Budgeted at about 16 billion meticais (about US$227 million at current exchange rates) and financed by the World Bank, the pilot project will be developed in Zambézia and Nampula provinces in the centre and north of the country respectively, and is expected to benefit more than 700,000 small farmers.
The project will be formally launched on Friday by President Filipe Nyusi at a ceremony in the Ribáuè district of Nampula province.
Speaking at a press conference after the Council of Ministers session, the Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Celso Correia, said that the project will boost family agrarian production in the country and reduce poverty.
“Access to these conditions will allow increased income of rural families through productivity and access to markets,” he said.
In order for the target populations to have access to financing, the government will work with locally based medium-sized farmers, Correia explained.
“They will be our vehicle for the promotion of small farmers,” he said, and then explained that each medium-sized farmer will have to promote about 200 small farmers.
Delivery of inputs to beneficiaries will begin with the next agricultural season starting next September.
“We do not want to do everything ‘over the knee’ (in a rush). There will be preparation of the communities to allow the government to match pace with the agricultural calendar,” the minister said.
Regarding the choice of Zambézia and Nampula to implement the project, Correia explained that this was due to the high poverty rate in those provinces compared to other regions of the country.
“We had to select an area for the roll-out of our project, and these two provinces have very high poverty indicators as well as very highly productive conditions,” he said.
The project also includes a technology transfer component through agrarian extension services.
Correia says the expansion of the PDRI, which is part of the National Rural Development Program, is the beginning of a new phase that will mark the end of poverty in the country.
“But we are aware that the development process is gradual. When we are anxious to solve all our problems at the same time, we usually do not get results,” he warned.
He added that the government considers the development of small farmers a priority, as evidenced by the involvement of the Ministries of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Industry and Commerce, State Administration and Public Administration.
In Mozambique, about 80 percent of farmers are family units, each on average farming approximately one hectare of land.
Source: AIM Moçambique
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