The President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi launched Thursday in the western city of Tete an agricultural program named “Sustenta”, with the aim of integrating small farmers into agricultural production value chains and promoting sustainable agriculture to increase productivity and farmers’ income.
The Sustenta program was first launched in 2017 in 10 districts in the provinces of Nampula and Zambezia and now is in its second phase to cover the whole country.
Calling it a “historic decision”, President Nyusi said at the ceremony that the state will allocate 10 percent of its budget for agriculture, to make sure the country can feed itself until it’s free of hunger.
“The project will promote the value chain at national and provincial level with an impact on the production and productivity of different crops that belong to the basic food basket, in particular corn, beans, rice, chicken, eggs, sugar, cassava, vegetables and fruits,” said Nyusi.
For the strategic crops such as cotton, soya, sesame, sunflower and cashew nuts, special institutions are to be set up to guarantee the development and production of these crops, which have great potential to generate income for local producers, he said.
As one of the main pillars of Mozambique’s national economy, agriculture reportedly contributes 25 percent of the southern African country’s gross domestic product.
