The Ikuru Producers Association (API) has been in existence for 20 years. It was created to improve the living conditions and businesses of family farmers in the northern region of Mozambique. It currently provides technical assistance and markets hundreds of tonnes of its members’ agricultural products.
According to a note, in the last year, about 500 tonnes of various products belonging to API members were marketed, of which peanuts, sesame and maize stand out.
“This is a 100% growth compared to 2021. In the sale of 500 tonnes, Ikuru transferred about 20 million meticais to its members,” said Ikuru’s executive director, Mário Santos, quoted in the note.
He revealed that, throughout its history, Ikuru has experienced moments with irregular results, depending on markets and managers that were not aligned, neither with reality, nor with the constraints of the relevant agricultural value chains in the region, nor even with the form of production or with the needs and priorities of the member producers.
“There were positive years, but also others with losses, a situation that has been corrected. And the last few financial years have been positive. The company’s audited accounts show successive annual profits of more than ten million meticais,” he said.
For his part, the president of API, Orlando Iovahale, emphasised that over the last 20 years, the entity has shown that it knows how to survive many difficulties and crises, but that, thanks to the support of national and international shareholders, it has been carrying out more projects.
He advanced, however, that one of the major concerns of the Producers’ Association is access to financial services, and with the support of Gapi, it has been implementing some solutions to achieve development.
“In this regard, in 2021, API requested assistance from Gapi to design and implement a microfinance institution of the Savings and Loan Organisation (SLO) type. The project has started and has mobilised, among members, about half a million meticais,” he concluded.
