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Mozambique set for historic social transformation through agriculture – Minister
2:53 CAT | 29 Oct 2020
File photo: Ministério da Agricultura e Desenvolvimento Rural
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mozambique, Celso Correia, said yesterday in parliament that the government intends, through its ‘dynamisation’ of the agrarian sector, to bring about one of the “greatest social transformations in the country’s history”.
Minister Correia emphasised the importance of family farming for Mozambican society in response to questions from the Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo), about the impact of the ‘Sustenta’ agrarian programme in the 2021-2022 agricultural campaign.
“We will do everything to ensure, through Sustenta, one of the greatest social transformations in our history,” the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
So far, about 200,000 small producers and about 3,750 semi-commercial producers from all over the country have applied to benefit from Sustenta in the 2020/2021 agricultural campaign, launching on Friday in the northern province of Niassa, the minister said.
Under the initiative, producers will benefit from technical assistance, fertilizers, financial services and connection to markets.
Several agro-processing plants will be set up in various parts of the country to take advantage of and generate value chains for agricultural and livestock production by the producers covered by the programme.
“Aware that markets are essential for the stability of production, Sustenta also advocates the emergence of the private sector, particularly in agribusiness investment, in order to absorb production, but also to add value and quality,” Celso Correia said.
In the last three years, the Sustenta pilot phase has benefited around 10,000 small farmers and semi-commercial farmers in the provinces of Zambézia and Nampula.
The families covered saw their average annual production increase from 760 kilograms of maize per hectare to 1,200 kilograms, and from 550 kilograms to about 950 kilograms per hectare of sesame.
Their financial income increased by 50%, the minister added.
The Sustenta programme was launched in February 2017, with initial support of 16 billion meticais (€192 million) from the World Bank.
Most Mozambicans, who live predominantly in rural areas, practise subsistence agriculture as their sole means of support.
Source: Lusa
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