Around 60 million tonnes of various products have been traded in the last three years in Mozambique, according to figures released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Speaking this Tuesday (5), on the second day of the ministry’s 21st coordinating council, which is taking place from 4 to 6 September in Marracuene, on the outskirts of Maputo, Minister Silvino Moreno said that this figure is equivalent to 70.1% of the output planned by the institution he heads for the 2020-24 five-year period.
“[The figure is] the result of increased production and productivity with the implementation of the SUSTENTA programme, greater coverage of the agricultural marketing revolving fund (FRCA), greater absorption of local raw materials by national industries and increased storage capacity,” said the minister, quoted by the Mozambican Information Agency (AIM).
The source added that “with the revolving fund for agricultural commercialisation and the special credit line to support agricultural commercialisation (LCCA), 1,146 operations were financed, with a total value of 389.1 billion meticais, of which 76% were for agricultural commercialisation activities and 24% for agro-processing.
Meanwhile, Silvino Moreno said that the institution he heads is currently working with a focus on agro-processing, “as it is an area that allows for greater utilisation of agricultural products and, in the long term, helps to reduce malnutrition in the country”.
The 21st session of the Coordinating Council is taking place in the year chosen by the African Union (AU) as the year dedicated to the industrialisation of the continent, and also the year in which Mozambique deposited the instruments of ratification for the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA).
