The province of Zambézia, in central Mozambique, has a food reserve of cereals estimated at more than 14,000 tonnes, capable of supplying food for the next four months, the newspaper Noticias reported on Tuesday, November 26.
According to the Cereals Institute of Mozambique (ICM), the latest survey carried out last September in the main districts of that province points to the availability of maize, rice and beans, as well as cash crops such as sesame.
According to the ICM provincial delegate in Zambézia province, Rosa Mandara, more than 1,000 tonnes of various products are also available in the agro-processing industry. This quantity is awaiting processing and can be sold on the national market.
The survey took place in the districts considered to be the biggest cereal producers, namely Mocuba, Alto Molócuè, Morrumbala, Mopela, Guruè, Molumbo, Milange and Lugela.
According to the source, ‘from the interaction we had with the producers, they said they had surpluses available to sell in the coming months, as they were waiting for better prices, because the ones they got at the start of the marketing year didn’t satisfy the farmers’ wishes.’
Rosa Mandara also said that, in parallel with the monitoring of cereal availability, there are ‘campaigns to sensitise producers so that they don’t sell all their production attracted by better prices. Currently, a kilo of maize varies between 28 and 30 meticals, while 25 kilos of processed maize flour cost 500 meticals on the local market.’
The delegate said that food security in the province is guaranteed, even in the districts where there was no major cereal production, since this year has seen a large production of tubers, especially cassava and sweet potatoes, crops that are currently being harvested.
According to Rosa Mandara, ‘cassava is becoming an alternative for producer families in districts where the production of cereals such as maize has been affected by El Niño.’
In the current agricultural season, Zambezia has planned to sell more than 3.5 million tonnes of various products. According to known figures, by the third quarter, more than 3.1 million tonnes of various products had been marketed, which corresponds to an achievement of 87%, with an increase of 0.9% compared to the same period last season (2023), in which around 3.2 million tonnes of various products were marketed.
