Artisanal fishers in Palma district, Cabo Delgado, are days from gaining a guaranteed buyer for their catch.
A new initiative aims to cut post-harvest losses, lift fishing incomes and strengthen the region’s fisheries value chain. The project installs buying points across the district. It also distributes ice free of charge to keep the catch fresh from landing to processing.
The Fish and Seafood Processing Factory of Mocímboa da Praia is rolling it out. The factory is now assembling a commercial structure in Palma. It has started buying the catches that the district’s artisanal fishers land.
Director-general Momade Sulemane says the logistics base in Palma is all but complete. Operations should begin within the week. The factory plans to extend the same free-ice model already running in Mocímboa da Praia. It will reach the main points where fishers gather along the coast.
Answering a chronic cold-storage gap
The scheme answers a long-standing challenge across the northern coast. There, catch has often spoiled for want of adequate cold storage.
Under the model, buying points hand out free ice to fishers. These artisanal fishers work the islands and coastal communities. The ice keeps the catch saleable at every stage.
The processing plant already operates in Mocímboa da Praia. It can handle more than 90 tonnes of fish and seafood a month. In this first phase, it absorbs the entire catch of Mocímboa da Praia’s fishers.
Free ice guarantees conservation and has already cut post-harvest losses sharply. The move into Palma extends the same guarantee to a second district.
From local markets toward Europe
The results are already showing. More than 35 tonnes of processed fish have reached markets in Beira and Maputo. Meanwhile, the factory is working to secure certification to export to the European Union. That step would open a higher-value market for Cabo Delgado’s catch. It would also raise incomes across coastal communities.
The market and cold-chain build sits under the Mozambique LNG project’s foundation. It financed the processing unit at a cost of more than USD 4 million. For Palma and Mocímboa da Praia, a working value chain is taking shape. It turns a reliable local market today into the prospect of selling into Europe tomorrow.
Source: Further Africa
