Africa-Press – Angola. The creation of small businesses, obtaining domestic utensils and buying zinc sheets for the construction of houses, are among the main benefits achieved through the first phase of the Social Protection Strengthening Program, Kwenda, with the 15,584 families covered in the municipalities of Golungo -Alto and Ambaca, province of Cuanza-Norte.
Executed through monetary transfers in the amount of 51 thousand kwanzas, for each household, implemented by the government agency FAS, the Kwenda Program is allowing the realization of modest actions, but significant for the life of the communities, with the creation of premises that allow citizens to leave the level of extreme poverty.
Press found that in Ambaca, so far, 11,220 households have been covered, while in Golungo-Alto, 4,364 families have been assisted, which together with those in Quiculungo and Banga make up a total of 17,497 direct beneficiaries, through social monetary transfers .
Among those contemplated, there is evidence of women in charge of the actions carried out, such as the case of Fátima Kizua, resident of the Fuma neighborhood, six kilometers from the town of Camabatela, who created a half-hectare cassava cultivation field, as a project elaborated with the money received.
He says that, with the 51,000 kwanzas received, he paid for the labor of the “mibangas” (small mounds where supplies are planted or sown), in addition to the purchase of cassava plants that he cultivated last October and hopes to harvest in May 2024.
He said that, if the rains are regular, he hopes to harvest about four tonnes of the product, which after the harvest will be transformed into bombó, whose 10-kilogram bucket is sold at the local market at a price of 2,000 kwanzas.
In estimates, the peasant expects to earn 200,000 kwanzas for each ton of cassava. She mentioned that she hopes to make good profits, create a permanent business after collecting and selling the groceries.
In turn, Josefa Macungo, 29 years old and with three children, revealed that the Kwenda program gave her the primacy of realizing the dream of owning her own house, built in adobe and covered with zinc sheets, unlike the room where she previously lived with her husband. husband and offspring, with a grass roof, which allowed for leaks to enter on rainy days.
“The achievement of any family is to have their own house and the Kwenda Program allowed the construction of my house, with four bedrooms and a large living room”, he said.
He made it known that the rustic bricks were made by himself and his family, who also helped in the construction of the house, at no cost.
She stressed that, now, she is waiting to receive the other 51,000 kwanzas foreseen in the second phase, whose destination will be the creation of a business, to help her husband with household expenses.
The chief of the village of Fuma, Frederico Morais, considers Kwenda the humanitarian program that can restore happiness to many families with few financial resources. “Many of us just need small incentives to start developing profitable activities and generate profits to guarantee a dignified life for the family”, he said.
The traditional entity appealed to the government authorities for the continuity of the program, in order to be able to benefit other citizens in vulnerable conditions.
In the commune of Kilunge, belonging to Golungo-Alto, Kwenda benefited a total of 520 households from 12 of the 18 existing neighborhoods, where the purchase of domestic utensils and the creation of pastry businesses are among the justifications for the amounts spent, delivered in February of this year.
For example, Paulina Gabriel, 59 years old, born and resident of the community of Andulo, 18 kilometers from the village of Golungo-Alto, says that she always dreamed of having a gas stove, a wish fulfilled through the money received in the context of monetary transfers from Kwenda.
She recalled that since she was a little girl she cooks with wood, a fact that – in her opinion – was more complicated during the rainy season, when the dry stick used as fuel got wet, making it heavier to carry over the head, in a four kilometer journey. up to the house.
“I bought a small stove and a gas cylinder. Now cooking with wood is part of the past”, he stressed, reiterating that with the remainder, he also bought bed linen, crockery and a plastic table with four chairs.
At the municipal seat, press found the young Cristina José, 28 years old, in the Kiaposse neighbourhood, who opted for the business of fried dumplings, sold at the local Central Hospital.
He made it known that the funding received allowed, in a first phase, the purchase of a bag of wheat, weighing 50 kilograms, and a plastic utensil of five liters of vegetable oil, yeast and other inputs needed to make the treats.
He stressed that, on average, he invoices between five and eight thousand kwanzas per day. He advanced the intention of creating a canteen, where, in addition to cookies, he could sell ice cream and other essential products, sought after by local residents.
FAS will continue to support business initiatives
The director of the Cuanza-Norte Local Development Institute, Lourenço Matias, stressed that the initiative of Cristina José and other associates who give guarantees of progress will benefit from the second phase of cash transfers.
He added that they will be included in the actions of productive inclusion for the sustainability of income generating activities for the improvement of the social and economic situation of the rural communities.
Speaking during the visit to verify the impact of the Social Protection Strengthening Programme, Kwenda, together with the families covered in the municipalities of Golungo-Alto and Ambaca, said that the process of productive inclusion will definitely start in September, but advanced that they are already in course registration actions of cooperatives and individual actions, subject to support.
He announced that the province also has an Integrated Social Action Center (CASI), created in the municipality of Quiculungo, an infrastructure that seeks to bring citizens closer to essential services, such as the acquisition of birth and civil registrations, as well as intermediating conflicts of various kinds in communities.
Thousands of citizens already benefited
During this year, the Executive expects to disburse more than eight billion kwanzas, to one million households, within the scope of monetary transfer actions, with the aim of improving the condition of vulnerable people in the country.
In the last three years, the State has already invested more than 33 billion kwanzas, to help improve the social condition of more than one million households, in 60 municipalities, comprising 9,397 villages in the national territory.
In the North of Angola, the project benefited 15 municipalities, with a total of 95,960 members benefited.
The KWENDA Program is a Government initiative, which aims to support 1,608,000 families in poverty and vulnerability in the country. It is financed with USD 320 million, provided by the World Bank and another USD 100 million, financed by the National Treasury.
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