Nampula province, located in northern Mozambique, expects to produce around 13 million tonnes of various agricultural products in the 2024-25 campaign, in an estimated cultivable area of 2.9 million hectares.
According to the newspaper Noticias, 345 tractors and the technical support of 967 extension workers will be available to achieve this target, 539 of which will come from the public sector and the rest from the private sector. Among the priority products are manioc, millet, beans, cashews, cotton, sesame and vegetables, the production of which should boost the province’s economic growth and improve people’s quality of life.
In the previous marketing year, the province put around 21 million tonnes of various products on the market, 500,000 tonnes of which were cash crops, generating revenue of 555.6 million meticals for producers, predominantly in the family sector.
These figures were announced by the Governor of Nampula, Manuel Rodrigues, during the ceremony to launch the 2024-25 agricultural campaign, held in the town of Matharya, Lapala administrative post, in the district of Ribáué. The ceremony took place under the slogan ‘Sustainable agriculture transforming lives’.
Manuel Rodrigues pointed out that Nampula has been an example of agricultural growth, as a result of the support provided by the government’s Sustenta programme.
During the 2023-24 campaign, the province recorded 12.3 million tonnes of food products and income, representing an increase of 22% compared to the 2018-19 campaign, when production was 10.4 million tonnes. Cassava and cashew nuts stood out as the main products responsible for this growth.
Cassava production has risen from 8.5 million tonnes to 10 million tonnes in recent years, with the Ribáué district consolidating its position as one of the largest producers. As for cashew nuts, production rose from 66,000 tonnes to 83,000 in the same period.
In the livestock sector, meat production grew by 20 per cent, an increase of six percentage points in recent years. The province currently has 136,830 head of cattle, a number that is expected to increase with the introduction of improved breeds, aimed at boosting productivity and improving the quality of animal products.
The governor guaranteed that the government will continue to provide technical support to farmers to facilitate cultivation and increase production volumes, and called on entrepreneurs in the sector to adopt practices that promote fair prices, contributing to market stability and the sustainability of production.
