Africa-Press – Angola. Angola remains with only 17.2% of cultivated land of the 35 million arable hectares that the country has, confirmed this Tuesday, in Luanda, the Minister of Agriculture and Forests, António de Assis.
When speaking on the topic “Strategies for promoting food production”, at the 3rd Angola Economic Outlook (AEO) Conference, the government official mentioned that only two percent (130 thousand hectares) of the total cultivated area is done by irrigation system, while the remaining depends on the rainy season.
He reiterated that 90% of agricultural activity, nationwide, is carried out by families, an estimated 2.4 million people, and 10% by the business sector.
According to the minister, the lack of knowledge about land cultivation, dependence on imported agricultural logistics and difficulties in distributing cultivated products still remain the main constraints that make increasing production in Angola unfeasible.
To overcome these constraints, he said that the Executive has made funds available to support the current agricultural campaign, amounts essentially intended for small farmers and family farming.
In turn, the president of the Agricultural Association of Angola (AAPA), Vanderley Ribeiro, considered Angola’s current indicators on food security to be worrying, despite recording “shy” growth in recent years, compared to the national growth rate.
Given this scenario, the businessman also defends the institutional redefinition of the role of family and business agriculture, in order to strengthen the objectives related to the country’s food and nutritional security.
The general director of Carrinho Agri, David Maciel, understands that the development of national agriculture is strictly dependent on technical and technological knowledge and that it requires constant training for field operators.
In the fishing sector, the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Carmen dos Santos, considered the growth of aquaculture as a fundamental segment for increasing aquatic resources in the country.
He updated that legal instruments are already being developed for the practice of mariculture, having invited businesspeople to invest in this business segment.
On the same occasion, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Rui Migêns de Oliveira, reaffirmed that imports must be complementary to national production, a fact that forced the protection, under the law, of some goods that show an increase in their production in Angola.
With this, he said, firstly, public institutions must request the internal market before resorting to the external market for goods and services.
In turn, the Minister of Finance, Vera Daves, pointed out the additional remuneration of 30 thousand kwanzas in public service salaries, the extension of the exemption from Labor Income Tax (IRT) from 70 to 100 thousand Kz, as well as the operationalization from the National Employment Fund, with 21 billion kwanzas, as the main measures taken by the Executive to protect family incomes.
Promoted by the Ministry of Planning, in partnership with Revista Economia & Mercado, the 3rd Angola Economic Outlook (AEO) Conference took place under the motto “Food security: Reality, challenges and opportunities”.
During the event, divided into two panels, participants debated matters linked to “economic development 2023 and macro-economic perspectives for 2024”, as well as “strategies for promoting food production”.
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