Africa-Press – Mozambique. A Mozambican company is implementing a sea cucumber production project in northern Mozambique, geared toward local community consumption and focused on women’s inclusion, in Nampula province.
“In the pilot phase, the company aims to strengthen the holothuria [sea cucumber] value chain and contribute to sustainable livelihoods in coastal communities, with a focus on women’s inclusion,” reads a statement from the Blue Economy Development Fund (ProAzul), revealing that the production project represents an investment of 60 million meticais (€800,000).
The project, run by the company Aquapesca, also receives funding from the MaisPeixe Sustentável Program of the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment, and Fisheries.
The Secretary of State for the Sea and Fisheries, Momade Juízo, emphasized that sea cucumbers are easy to produce, and fetch around 14,000 meticais (€190) per kilo on the European market.
“It is indeed encouraging to have a project with a strong component of support for local communities,” Juízo added during a visit held recently to Aquapesca’s project for the production of juvenile holothurians, or sea cucumbers, in Nacala Porto, Nampula province.
According to company general director, François Grosse, Aquapesca has the capacity to produce 1.5 tons of sea cucumbers annually and, through a “commercial approach for local benefit,” supply raw materials for mariculture community projects, especially in the northern provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado.
“To this end, we also count on the support of other partners such as TotalEnergies, which provides an inclusive business model, with technical assistance, training, and community integration,” Grosse said.
The Mais Peixe Sustentável (MPS) program has two funding windows: first, for artisanal fishing and aquaculture, where it contributes 80% of the funding, and second, for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, where it contributes 70% of the business plan.
Currently, the MPS is implemented in some districts in the central and northern provinces of the country and receives funding from the Northern Mozambique Rural Resilience Project (MozNorte) and the Sustainable Rural Economy Program (MozRural).
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