The Mozambican government has announced an increase of US$127 million (€125 million) in the value of exports of agricultural products in the first half of this year, compared with the same period in 2021.
“There was an exponential evolution of agricultural exports from US$183 million (€180 million) in 2021 to US$310 million (€305 million) for the same period in 2022,” spokesperson for the Mozambican Council of Ministers, Filimão Suaze, told the media on Tuesday after a meeting of the body in Maputo.
According to Suaze, the growth in the volume of agricultural exports results from the strategies adopted under the Sustenta programme, whose main objective is to strengthen the capacity of small farmers.
Among the crops which registered a significant increase in the volume of exports in the first six months of the year are pulses, nuts and oilseeds, which are identified as priorities in within the Sustenta framework.
According to government data, the export of leguminous crops in the first half of this year rose from US$14 million to US$48 million, nuts from US$14 million to US$69 million and oilseeds from US$44 million to US$80 million.
“Due to this evolution, the trade balance deficit stood at around US$30 million (€29.5 million), heavily influenced by food and wheat imports,” the Council of Ministers spokesperson said.
In a note sent to Lusa yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mozambique said that the results achieved would have a direct impact on the price of the main products in the basic food basket of Mozambican families, especially rice, corn and corn flour, while expecting “a stability trend” to be upheld, despite the adverse global inflation scenario.
In response to high levels of poverty and chronic malnutrition, most of the Mozambican population in rural areas resorts to subsistence agriculture for their survival.
The ‘Sustenta’ programme, launched in 2017, has been a major focus of the Mozambican government in recent times, with the main objective of strengthening the capacity of small-holder farmers to boost industrialisation.
Rádio Moçambique
