Africa-Press – Angola. The minister of agriculture and forests, António Francisco de Assis, reiterated, in one of the agricultural farms, set up within the framework of the “Terra do Futuro” project, in Quibala municipality, Cuanza-Sul province, that the ministry in charge will continue to support the young agricultural entrepreneurs, in the sense of guaranteeing the productivity of the farms, in order to reach the goals established by the Executive.
The holder of the Agriculture and Forestry portfolio made the announcement at the end of the verification visit he carried out in the region, where he found out about the state of the farms and their respective owners, in light of the support provided by the ministry to revitalize the resumption of agrarian activities, as a result of the downtime recorded since 2015.
During the visit, accompanied by the Deputy Governor for the political, social and economic sector, Emília Tchinawalile, and by members of his department, António de Assis visited four farms, where he found out, together with the young farmers, about how the support was applied in seeds and agricultural inputs made available since last year. After listening to explanations from young farmers, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry expressed satisfaction with the way in which the support was applied, in addition to seeing young people with the soul force to resume production on a large scale.
The holder of the portfolio of the ministerial department heard the concerns of the farmers and saw what they are doing, and gave a positive note to the delivery of young farmers. “I leave this visit excited, and I think that the support given by the ministry was worth it”, he said. agriculture in the country.
“It is a curious fact that makes me happy, seeing university students embrace the countryside and this shows that, in a short future, we will know the modernization of agriculture”, he said. As for the concerns presented by the farmers, about the need to acquire heavy machinery for farming, and other agricultural imputes, Francisco de Assis guaranteed that, within the powers of the department, contacts will be made with the management of the Development Support Fund da Agricultura (FADA), in the sense of finding ways to solve the problems that affect young landowners, at the same time, that he advised landowners to form a cooperative that represents them, as a way of finding ways to obtain credits, with banking institutions, as soon as they overcome the constraints with the Development Bank of Angola (BDA).
From constraints to the resumption of production
The agricultural entrepreneurs, trained by the “Terra do Futuro” project, in the municipality of Quibala, are back in production, after seven years of stoppage, thanks to the support provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The Terra do Futuro project proceeded with the phased delivery of 51 farms, out of the 60 planned, from 2009 to 2012, with nine remaining to be prepared and delivered to the beneficiaries. The process went smoothly, but the lack of completion of the processes for acquiring equipment, means of transport and agricultural inputs by the project manager, Agropromotora, made the anxiety of young agronomists unfeasible
The situation provoked a certain demobilization of the young landowners, and those who persisted in the initiative experienced difficulties of various kinds, with no possibility of moving forward to respond to the previously outlined objectives.
At the time, the young farmers were excited to receive parcels of 250 hectares of land already prepared and houses built by the “Terra do Futuro” project, but Agropromota, a management company that acted as an intermediary with the Development Bank of Angola (BDA) for the acquisition of equipment and agricultural inputs would put a brake on the progress of the great initiative.
The landowners expressed their concern to report regarding the debts charged to them, which are around one million and 400 US Dollars each. Until a definitive resolution was reached, between the creditor bank, the BDA, and the manager of the purchase process and delivery of equipment to beneficiaries, Agropromotora, the situation was unsustainable.
Faced with this reality, in 2022 the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry sought to intervene, providing support with seeds and some inputs, and the results are beginning to emerge, a fact that encourages young farmers, who for the most part already feel rescued by the uncertainty that invaded their lives. souls.
The project’s initial design was for the large-scale production of cereals and legumes, such as rice, corn, soybeans, beans and wheat, but the Ministry of Agriculture advised young farmers to diversify into other crops, such as fruit trees.
First beneficiaries receive technical means
Elídio Pinto was one of the first to benefit from the 250-hectare plot, a van and respective house, and told that, at that time, he saw his dream come true, taking into account the training in agronomy he obtained. “The delivery of plots of land, equipment and technical support was an idea well thought out by the Executive, and the constraints only complicate this grandiose project, still unique in Angola”, he said.
The young farmer said that the ministry’s gesture constitutes the turning of a difficult page and appealed to the good sense of the competent authorities for the project to continue. “We are considering giving up the project, otherwise the resources spent will fall on deaf ears”, he said, stressing that the country needs many projects of this size.
He made it known that with the delivery of nine tons of reindeer potato seeds and other agricultural inputs, by the ministry, the bases were laid for the revitalization of production.
“We are excited and, at the same time, advising others who had given up to resume production, and we think that in two or three years we can enter an acceptable rhythm”, he said.
As for the scenario, which he considered unflattering, Elídio Pinto, said that one cannot point the finger at anyone, as it translates a learning experience for everyone, whether it be the project implementers, as well as the beneficiaries themselves.
“For me, I can’t blame anyone because I think it was a phase in which there was a lack of supervision for the process to go well”, he stressed, but he argues that an inventory should be made of how much the management company spent for each farmer to know what was distributed , and for distributing.
Mingo Fernando Quitamba, is another farmer who occupies plot no34, and joined the project in 2012. He told our reporter about his plot that he occupied one hectare with the planting of lemon, orange and mango trees, in addition to other spaces where he sowed beans and corn. Idelfonso Segundo is also excited about the resumption of production, through the support provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, and added that he has started to work at an accelerated pace.
“I am excited about the support we receive from the Ministry of Agriculture, producing corn, beans, as well as fruit trees and coffee plantations, but we need heavy machinery to remove bushes that grew during the stoppage period”, he stressed.
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