President Acknowledges Lack of Access Roads Remain a Problem

9 June 2011

Maputo — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Wednesday acknowledged that a lack of adequate infrastructure, including access roads, remains the major obstacle to the smooth movement of goods and agricultural produce.

President Guebuza was speaking in Namuno district, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, at a press conference to mark the end of his “open and inclusive presidency” tour of the north of the country which began on 4 June.

He praised local residents for their efforts to increase food production and agricultural productivity, with agricultural production in the province increasing by 36 per cent.

Figures from the provincial government show that agricultural production reached 2,083,297 tonnes in 2010, up from 1,535,206 tonnes in 2009. This growth was attributed to increased technical assistance and improved seeds provided by extensionists.

President Guebuza also welcomed the development of agro-processing and an increase in the number of mills.

Currently, there are about 255,000 peasant families in Cabo Delgado, each working an area of between 1.5 to 3 hectares, with an average yield of 1.8 tonnes per hectare for maize, 2.4 tonnes for rice and 8.5 tonnes for cassava.

Some of these peasant farmers are organised in the 745 producer associations in the province. These have a total of 8,878 members, of which 5,523 are male and 3,355 female.

The associations offer mutual help, improved bargaining power, the sharing of agricultural equipment and the ability to mobilise support and from the government and other institutions.

In the province there are 78 extensionists assisting peasant farmers to increase production and productivity.

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