Africa-Press – Angola. With average harvests of between 60 and 70 thousand tons per year, the Bié authorities have multiplied their support to Andulo producers, where they plan to achieve higher goals, as is the case with pineapple production, of 30 thousand tons in the same period of time.
The municipal director of Agriculture and Fisheries of Andulo, Florindo Martins, said that the bet is consensual, even in the current conditions, in which, to sell the production, the local peasants normally resort to the parallel market. “The municipality is a producer and the production is not always disposed of”, he lamented.
Florindo Martins told, to explain the bet on bananas, that the increase in production gives hope to producers, taking into account the weight of the product in the population’s diet.
In addition, banana cultivation does not require a lot of technique, as with other crops, being a food that, despite being perishable, is in permanent demand on the market, said Florindo Martins, who announced the creation of conditions to encourage small producers to bet on bananas.
Florindo Martins pointed out that the most common production in Bié is made by small producers. “We have been working and interacting with peasants to produce more for the country: the objective is not only to reduce imports, but also to enhance our local production,” he said.
The head of the Agriculture sector underlined that the climatic conditions and variables such as production factors are so favorable that the adhesion is already resulting in an increase in the cultivation area.
According to the source, another factor that contributed to the increase in production is the desire of many producers in the region to migrate from traditional to commercial agriculture, which makes it possible to harvest tons of fruit, essentially bananas and citrus fruits (including pineapple).
Florindo Martins stressed that, every day, several trucks leave Andulo loaded with bananas and other products grown by local peasant communities, such as beans, soybeans, corn, Arabica coffee and vegetables. The municipality also has an abundant production of corn, ginguba, peas, sweet potatoes and reindeer, cassava, pumpkin and yams.
It has more than 50 thousand small producers, having registered 480 peasant associations, 47 cooperatives and 172 Rural Schools. More than 45,000 families are involved in agricultural production.
In general, he continued, an orchard, in addition to being domestically important for consumption and family leisure, acquires commercial purposes, and can be the main or complementary activity of small rural producers.
The cultivation of fruit trees on small properties, he explained, generally occupies up to 10 hectares, but the concept may vary depending on the species of planting.
Coordinated Sale
The coordinated sale of fruit produced in the municipality of Andulo is one of the priorities of the local authorities, who want to help producers obtain higher incomes, based on the offer agreed between all .
“The production and harvest of bananas and pineapples is not always controlled, as it is carried out by peasants and in poorly defined locations. Peasants sell the fruit, especially the banana produced in Andulo, in the provinces of Moxico and Lunda-Sul due to the ease transport by the Benguela Railway (CFB). The fruit is also sent to Luanda, Huambo and Cuando-Cubango. As an administration, we are working to ensure that the production is shipped in a more acceptable way, to other stops ”, he stated.
The Municipal Administration of Andulo sees the institutional program for the acquisition of products from the countryside as a valuable contribution to national production. “We are creating conditions and we ask the competent authorities to introduce this program in the municipality”, he said.
Andulo fruit, mainly bananas, is sold in the various villages of the municipality and along the road in the section between Andulo and Cunhinga. In the villages of Etinda-Tchissococua and Cangalo, several traders try to sell to passers-by, with dealers buying to obtain added value in the markets of urban centers.
Affordable Prices
Bananas and pineapples are abundant products in the region and, when not used in due course, they deteriorate, which causes damage to producers. However, during the peak phase, a bunch of bananas costs less than 1,500 kwanzas.
The value is low, but, for producers, “it is better to earn a little than nothing”, said producer António Tchicuamanga, who advises the authorities to do more, so that entrepreneurs create conditions that allow them to transform the fruit into a province of Bié, to avoid waste.
Even so, the peasant families of Andulo are betting on the expansion of banana cultivation, because they look at the fruit as one of the products that guarantee greater income, in addition to being one of the most sought after in the market.
Bad roads discourage Peasant producers
in the municipality of Andulo are concerned about the degradation of secondary and tertiary roads, which makes the flow of products difficult. Peasant João Tchinhama stated that, every year, families have suffered losses due to difficulties in selling what they produce.
João Tchinhama said that the situation is worse for the peasants of the village of Ndulo Epalanga, where the road that connects the town to the town of the municipality is totally impassable in the rainy season.
The concern is shared by producer Pedro Venâncio, who said that the few vehicles that circulate on the degraded roads charge very high prices to transport the goods, despite the delay with which they do so.
Peasant Timóteo Filipe, who this year saw part of his production spoil in the fields because he was unable to transport, said that many families that used to produce on a large scale are slowing down due to the losses resulting from the difficulties in marketing.
Andulo, according to the results of the General Census of Population and Housing, carried out in 2014, has an estimated population of 258,161 inhabitants who are mainly engaged in agriculture.
Program encouragesto potato cultivation
A program that aims to encourage producers to increase production is underway in the municipality of Andulo, with the reindeer potato getting special attention from the Provincial Government, said the municipal administrator of Andulo, Celeste Adolfo.
The action carried out by the authorities is moving forward as a valid contribution to the program to fight hunger and poverty, and the population is also being encouraged to grow manioc and sweet potato.
Cassava cultivation is being carried out in the four communes that make up the municipality, namely, the headquarters, Chivaulo, Cassumbe and Calussinga, through the local Agrarian Development Station (EDA).
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