EU FUNDS US $38 MILLION FOR AGRICULTURE PROMOTION

 Thirty thousand peasant families from the provinces of Huíla and Cuanza Sul will benefit from a financing of US $ 38 million, made available by the European Union during the agricultural season 2020/21.

The money was made available for the implementation of the Family Agriculture Project and Marketing (SAMAP. In the province of Huíla it will cover 25 thousand families and five thousand in Cuanza Sul.

This amount, delivered through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), is being applied in the purchase of corn, beans, sorghum seeds, as well as fertilizers, work tools and small equipment.

Speaking to ANGOP last Monday, the National Director of the Agrarian Development Institute (IDA), David Tunga, stated that in the province of Huíla 100 tonnes of maize seeds have already been purchased, 700 of NPK fertilizers 12-24-12, 180 of sulfate and ammonium and an equal number of urea.

He admitted that the distributed quantity is still insufficient to meet the agricultural development needs, adding that there is also dependence on the global economic and financial situation, now aggravated by the covid-19 pandemic, but believes it may be essential.

He added that IDA is working on empowering communities through field schools, a space where producers learn about cultivation techniques.

The official recalled that the government recently approved the family farming and fishing acceleration program, which includes resources assessed in about 154 billion kwanzas (US $ 235.7 million equivalent), aimed at helping peasant families in the country.

He said that the respective value was used to purchase 60,000 plows, so that producers can produce on a large scale.

The SAMAP project, which is in the third year of its implementation, is being applied in ten of the country's 18 provinces.

He assured that the philosophy outlined by the institution is that agricultural means reach communities based on a subsidy policy and the process of acquiring resources from these peasants.

Huila Province has prepared more than 600,304 hectares which involves 314, 604 peasant families, integrated in 825 peasant associations.

In this agricultural campaign, it plans to harvest another 508,157 tonnes of different products.