Africa-Press – Angola. A total of 31 heavy vehicles will be distributed, starting in the first half of this month, by the provincial government of Uíge, to support the flow of agricultural products to consumption centres.
According to António Hinda, one of the heads of the Provincial Agriculture Office, who announced the fact, on Saturday, in the village of Bungo, at the opening of the “Rural Woman” day, 20 of these vehicles are already in the province of Uíge and should start be distributed through public tender.
He stated that the initiative aims to overcome the difficulties that peasants face in transporting production from agricultural fields to sales outlets. The means should be given to individuals who will be in charge of transporting the peasants’ production, upon payment of freight, he said, guaranteeing that the entry of trucks at the service of the flow of production will stimulate and increase agricultural activity in the region.
It discouraged future users from avoiding the use of these vehicles for purposes other than transporting products from the countryside to the cities.
“We have seen that many people who benefit from tractors divert these means to transport adobe, stones, sand and other inert materials for civil construction in cities”, he said, contradicting the purpose for which they were distributed or acquired.
Members of cooperatives present at the meeting suggested that the vehicles be delivered to the peasant collective instead of individuals as has been the custom.
“Trucks should no longer be given to those who already have substantial financial resources, rural entrepreneurs, but should be directed to associations or cooperatives”, he underlined.
For them, the associations lack the means and the same people always come, who already have money or financial capacity, buy tractors and trucks for themselves, always being the ones contemplated and exploiting the peasants.
The women urged the authorities to grant them support that would allow them to acquire tools for farming and seeds, stating that they have been sustaining their activities without the help of public institutions.
The official lectured on the theme “Fundamentals for the creation of an agricultural association or cooperative”, in the meeting in which dozens of women participated.
Rural women receive incentives
The head of the Provincial Office for Youth, Culture and Youth and Sports, Domingos Manuel João, encouraged women who work in agriculture in rural areas to continue producing food from the countryside, which he said was the most recommended for human health.
The official he represented, the governor of Uíge, José Carvalho da Rocha, said that rural women offer food to the market every day, having highlighted the importance of this fringe for Angolan society.
According to him, the provincial government has made a lot of effort towards the valorization of rural women, who are very dedicated to food production, providing support in terms of means and seeds for the strengthening of agricultural activities and for the stability of their families.
Domingos Manuel João, however, urged the peasants to organize themselves into cooperatives in order to serve more interested parties. “When the peasants are more grouped and structures more people benefit from the support”.
In turn, António Hinda, when responding to the concerns of material support of the peasant women, reported that the provincial authorities of Uige are encouraging the peasants to organize themselves into agricultural associations and cooperatives, a mechanism that they believe can facilitate the design of technical support in this way. such as supplies of materials and seeds, necessary for large-scale productivity.
The constant offers and technical support provided to the peasants proved that they have produced insufficient effects in terms of the results that should be expected.
“The experience of the productivity of grouped peasants verified in many localities has produced good results, contrary to those resulting from the incentives given to isolated peasants”, he said.
The need for legalization of associations or cooperatives was also encouraged so that they are entitled to credit available in banks.
“As long as they have documents, farmers can apply for bank credits”, guaranteed the agrarian technician.
For him, an organized and legalized cooperative will easily obtain financing from creditor institutions such as banks, thus reinforcing his appeal for associations and individual peasants to legalize their farms.
Agriculture in Bunga
The municipal administrator of Bunga confirmed, in turn, that the production of the cooperatives has been very good in terms of quantity and quality, having informed that these positive results encouraged her administration to anticipate, this year, the preparation of large tracts of land. for the same.
Maria Filomena dos Anjos said they had already plowed about 200 hectares of land, waiting for the rains to start distributing maize and rice seeds as well as some agricultural instruments acquired by the provincial government for peasants organized in associations or cooperatives.
“We would not have reached many families if we prepared land for each person”, he said, considering that it is impossible to achieve robust results with the agricultural activity developed through manual and individual work.
In the women’s empowerment regime, he said, the municipality of Bungo controls 16 coffee growers, four breeders of cattle, swine, goats, fingerlings and poultry, as well as 10 artisans and 117 traditional porters.
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