Africa-Press – Angola. The Mabuia community has always been an area with agricultural potential. It is bathed by the Zenza River and two lagoons and has unlimited arable land.
The population, to this day, is essentially dedicated to agriculture, producing food to ensure the survival of families and the community.
Founded in 1962 and geographically located in the municipality of Icolo e Bengo, commune of Cabiri, Mabuia is 60 kilometers from the city of Luanda.
Better known to its residents as the “Community of Cape Verdeans”, as these were the first residents of the neighborhood in the colonial era, Mabuia was a powerhouse in the colonial era, in the cultivation of cotton.
Today, the village is able to diversify crops with a variety of agricultural products, from vegetables, tubers, fruit, an activity practiced by more than 100 people, whose main occupation is the field.
The group of 100 farmers includes citizen Jaime José Rodrigues, better known as “DÁ” or “David”, owner of “Fazenda DÁ”, with around 40 hectares cultivated with a variety of products.
At the site, the press report found corn, cassava, potatoes, bananas, okra, eggplant, onions, watermelon, cabbage, cabbage, butter beans, sunflower, for the production of oil, among other products.
The onion, already in the harvest phase, occupies two hectares. According to Jaime José Rodrigues, production exceeds two hectares when input conditions are available.
Cabbage cultivation is visible in an area of one hectare, tomatoes in around two hectares, plus areas ready for harvest, and others still maturing.
Without keeping in mind the statistics of production levels on his farm, due to the lack of proper material for weighing, Jaime José Rodrigues guaranteed that all production is carried out on a large scale with his own resources, without support from the communal and municipal administrations or the Government . of the Province.
To increase production levels, that farmer needs support from agricultural materials, to boost production not only in his cultivation area, but also for the entire peasant class in Mabuia.
One of the most important supports that the community requests is a tractor to clear the land, a machine that, until now, has been rented in the municipality of Cacuaco, commune of Funda.
Citrus production
At Fazenda DÁ, there is an area of approximately five hectares reserved for citrus production, with one hectare already in production. It is an orchard where you can find varieties of fruit, others that are even less known to the Angolan population, as they are more common in Cape Verdean cultures.
The orchard is filled with lemon, sape-sape, guava, orange, lemon, gajaja, breadfruit, pomegranate, mango, avocado, tangerine, grapefruit, gaja-manga (mango family), banana, among other fruits.
These fruits, according to Jaime José Rodrigues, will be harvested from December this year to January 2024, the best harvest time for these crops.
Cacusse production
On the same farm, the excavation of tanks for Aquaculture is underway. Some for the production of cacussos and others reserved specifically for the production of catfish and seguilhão fish (species of the catfish family).
One of the tanks is 30 meters long and three meters deep. The project, according to Jaime José Rodrigues, will go into production by December of this year.
Main constraints
The lack of a machine to clear the land, of transport to transport production, the increase in the cost of seeds and fertilizers and other inputs that boost agricultural activity continue to be the main problems experienced by local farmers and peasants.
Jaime José Rodrigues explained that, to clear the land and prepare it for cultivation, machines are always rented, causing expenses to be substantial depending on the size of the land to be cultivated.
“Renting a tractor costs between 35 and 40 thousand kwanzas depending on the material that will be needed to prepare the land”, highlighted the farmer, reinforcing that the lack of vans to transport production and taxi services to support the saleswomen who go Buying products there is another issue that must be resolved, for the good of the community.
“We receive many buyers from the large markets in Luanda, mainly from Km-30, where the bulk of the community’s production is sold”, he informed.
The source insisted on the issue of means of transport and access to mining. “We don’t have our own transport, the trails and roads that give access to the mines are degraded, so we appeal to the competent authorities to help us resolve this”, highlighted Jaime José Rodrigues.
Alongside other producers in the region, Jaime José Rodrigues said that the community has been following news in the media about the support that the Government provides for the municipality of Icolo and Bengo. “This aid has not reached the commune of Cabiri and its communities”, he highlighted.
Another aspect that left the representative of the Mabuia community and his partners unhappy were the words spoken by a representative of the Agriculture sector, whose name he did not mention, who, during a visit to the commune, said, in the meeting with local farmers, “that the Cabiri commune does not produce”. “These words made us sad because it is not true,” he lamented.
“The commune of Cabiri was once considered Luanda’s green belt”, highlighted Jaime José Rodrigues.
Jaime José Rodrigues considers that the Mabuia community has been abandoned. “We were the ones who supported Luanda at that time and we worked with guns on our backs and a hoe in our hands and today we are despised and live like lost children”, he said, clarifying that “the abandonment started from 2018-2019”, a period in which they no longer had support from government entities and municipal administration.
Jaime José Rodrigues said that, previously, the community received bi-weekly visits from government officials, from governors, ministers, ambassadors and other entities that supported the community.
“Since Icolo and Bengo became part of the province of Luanda, we have been abandoned and we have not even received moral support from municipal administrators”, lamented Jaime José Rodrigues, clarifying that Mabuia has small peasants, made up of elderly citizens and some young people and the class of large and medium-sized farmers, the main holders of plots of land between 30 and 60 hectares, without forgetting the farmers holding large plots of land.
“We have already shown what we are capable of and to triple our production we need support from inputs and agricultural materials”, highlighted Jaime José Rodrigues.
Jaime José Rodrigues recognized that the Government has an ambitious project for the good of the Nation, which is the diversification of the economy. The Mabuia community, he stressed, is willing to contribute by working hard to increase the variety of field products.
Fuel price
The price of fuel is also one of the main problems for farmers. Jaime José Rodrigues said that since 2009, the Government has been talking about subsidizing fuel for the class, but, so far, nothing has been noticed.
Farmers, he continued, spend large amounts of money purchasing this product to supply the pump. “Every day, I use 20 liters of diesel and 15 liters of gasoline”, he lamented.
To make up for this deficit, that farmer once again appealed to the Government to pay greater attention to the Mabuia community, which to date has not received any support.
Thousands of tons of products shipped to the Km-30 market
Cabiri is one of the communes in the municipality of Icolo and Bengo that, despite some difficulties, produces almost everything that comes from the land.
In addition to being a renowned farmer in the community, Jaime José Rodrigues is the president of the Mabuia Zone B Residents’ Committee. It ensures that, every day, six to seven trucks leave the region for the Km-30 market, some with up to four thousand tons of various products.
“I haven’t done any weighing or calculations, but I guarantee that there are tons and tons of different products that are sold to the 30 market and others”, he highlighted, insisting that “there would be more production if the commune had support”.
“Peasants have the willpower to increase agricultural production but, unfortunately, there are not enough conditions due to lack of inputs, they do everything on their own”, lamented Jaime José Rodrigues.
Large-scale onion production
Onion cultivation in the community of Mabuia is also one of the major crops in the area, heavily supported by the citizen of Guinea Conakry, Mamadu Dian Bang, who went from cantineiro to small farmer.
A resident of the Mabuia community for five years, Mamadu Dian Bang owns three hectares of land that has already been cultivated, where onions can be grown in large quantities, as well as corn and other crops.
Press witnessed the harvesting of quantities of onions with and without leaves, including six employees.
With so much plantation, Mamadu Dian Bang is unable to specify the quantities of onions he produces. He said that this task would be easy if there was storage in the community for the conservation of products with all the conditions, including a weighing system.
Although he does not know exactly how many tons, Mamadu Dian Bang explained that the harvest is controlled by carving. In a four-meter-wide and 120-meter-long plot, he explained, a ton of onions can be harvested.
Mamadu Dian Bang decided to embrace agriculture because he witnessed the arrival of many Luanda residents and some fellow countrymen looking for land to cultivate.
Not wanting to be left behind, the gathering of many people caught his attention and sparked his interest in investing in the countryside, renting a space to one of the farmers, where he started producing onions, corn and beans.
“I buy the inputs with the profits I can make in the canteen, where I also sell some farm products”, highlighted Mamadu Dian Bang.
Space for storage and conservation of products
A storage and conservation area for products in the Mabuia community is, for Mamadu Dian Bang, what is urgently needed.
Due to lack of storage space, he said, producers have nowhere to store and preserve the products, so they are forced to harvest the product only when it is purchased by traders in large markets.
In fact, press found in the Mamadu Dian Bang cultivation area some traders from the Km-30 Market and adjacent areas harvesting onions in a store already purchased.
According to Mamadu Dian Bang, in his farm, a box of onions costs 10 to 12 thousand kwanzas and a carving can cost more than 100 thousand kwanzas. “A hoist can produce five nets of red onions weighing 20 and 30 kilos, depending on the size of the product. From time to time I manage to deliver three tons of onions into the hands of the ladies, which are then transported to the markets at Km-30, Kicolo and Catinton,” reported Mamadu Dian Bang.
Another problem that the community wants to see resolved is material support for the irrigation system, because the lagoon where the water is drawn is 700 meters from its farm and has been difficult, due to the lack of a motor pump with the capacity to do so.
Production is purchased before harvest
In the Mamadu Dian Bang cultivation area, some vendors from the Luanda markets are waiting for the onion. One of them is citizen Luísa Candumbo, a seller at Mercado do Km-30.
Luísa Candumbo says that this is the second time she has traveled to Cabiri, in Mabuia, to buy rural products. “When I arrive here, we buy hoists that vary from 150 to 100 meters at a price of 130 to 140 thousand kwanzas. The price is affordable as it is a time of great supply and when we arrive at the market we sell the 20 to 30 hammock for 21 thousand kwanzas. kilos”, highlighted Luisa Candumbo, satisfied with the harvest.
Satisfaction with the arrival of a long-awaited visitor
Press met the president of the Cintura Verde de Luanda Association, Mito da Silva, in the village of Mabuia, who took some agricultural input kits to meet the needs of local peasants.
The kits include 24 hoes, two sprayers and five watering cans, in addition to other materials. Jaime José Rodrigues thanked fellow farmer Mito da Silva, who has supported the community with some agricultural inputs.
“We are satisfied, because he remembered us and came here to bring us support that we really need”, highlighted the Cape Verdean farmer, satisfied with the visit.
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