The Mozambican government plans to invest about US$828 million to increase the agricultural income of the family sub-sector and contribute to raising one million households out of poverty by 2025.
The funds will be allocated under the government’s flagship agricultural development programme, Sustenta, intended to integrate small producers into agricultural value chains. It will provide technology transfer, production financing and market linkages.
The national director of Family Agriculture Development, Nilza Paúnde said that the main beneficiaries of the project would be small farmers willing to produce rice, sunflowers, sesame, soybeans and cotton on 1.5-hectare plots.
“The definition of the beneficiaries took into account the structure of the agro-livestock sector, which is composed of 4,167,702 small farms,” Paúnde said.
The rest of the programme points to an investment of over US$122 million in the last two years in support of small farmers, emerging commercial producers and small and medium enterprises.
Mozambique’s agricultural exports have grown by more than 69 per cent, from US$183 million in the first half of 2021 to US$310 million in the first six months of this year.
Paúnde added that 2,071 new field extension workers were hired and trained, and the public network now has 3,817 technicians.
To reduce post-harvest losses, 3.3 million hermetic bags were delivered to 54,000 households, using a sealing system that protects the crops from humidity and pests.
According to Paúnde, the increase in agricultural production and productivity, largely driven by Sustenta, contributed to the removal of about five million Mozambicans from food insecurity.
The number of Mozambicans at risk of food insecurity fell from about 12 million in 2020 to seven million in 2022.
The Mozambique population, at the end of 2020, stood at 32.1 million.
