Africa-Press – Angola. The Secretary of State for Social Action, Lúcio do Amaral, announced last Saturday in Luanda that the delivery of 500 tractors to ex-soldiers has already benefited a total of 36,315 members and 456 cooperatives.
Lúcio do Amaral made these statements in the Kikuxi area, municipality of Viana, during the delivery of eight tractors to agricultural cooperatives, during which he said that 11,260 former soldiers and 25,055 members of local communities are included in the process.
The government official said, however, that the programme, despite the progress it has made, still requires efforts that could contribute to its sustainability, structuring, follow-up, monitoring and continuous training.
“We would like to remind you that these tractors are not only benefiting the former soldiers, as they are also contributing to leveraging family farming, supporting small farmers in the communities”, he said.
In order to ensure correct use, guarantee the longevity of the means, obtain greater yields and sustainability, intensive training cycles were carried out for operators and tractor maintenance technicians.
“A total of 444 associates, from 225 ex-soldiers’ cooperatives in 81 municipalities and 14 provinces, benefited from the tractor training and qualification course”, he said.
Lúcio do Amaral assured that the Agrarian Development Support Fund (FADA) has a decisive role in the process of allocating tractors and facilitating credit.
Governor of Luanda
The governor of Luanda, Manuel Homem, appealed to the contemplated cooperatives to do their best in the use of the machines so that they can give positive results to the families.
“The act that we are witnessing here is extremely important. The President of the Republic, in his speech, in the National Assembly, on the state of the Nation, announced that the Government would acquire 500 tractors to boost the cooperatives of ex-soldiers throughout the country,” he recalled.
Manuel Homem considered, however, that the rational and careful use of means will guarantee the promotion of more jobs, as well as allowing young people to invest more and more in the agricultural sector.
The president of the Board of Directors of the Agrarian Development Support Fund (FADA), Felisberta Francisco, assured that there is a line of credit destined exclusively to cooperatives of ex-soldiers.
Felisberta Francisco also explained that the legalization of cooperatives, the title of land ownership and the request for credit are the criteria to be followed for the granting of values.
“Right now, each ex-military agricultural cooperative can only request ten million kwanzas from FADA to start its activity in full”, he advanced.
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