[dropcaps]A[/dropcaps]ngola plans, in the next two years, to produce 63 percent of the corn it consumes and to spend 100 billion kwanzas on the Support Plan for Corn Production in Angola, approved by presidential decree.
The plan aims to increase corn production to 4.9 million tons, compared to production of 1.3 million tons in 2014 from Explorações Agrícolas Empresariais (EAE) and over 359,900 tons from Explorações Agrícolas Familiares (EAF), an amount which covered just 40 percent of national needs (4.2 million tons).
The programme includes measures such as financial support for work animals and mechanisation with funding of 50,000 EAF, in a total area of 50 hectares, or corrective work for production in an area of 45,000 hectares, benefiting 90,000 families.
The programme, which came into force on 22 June and the details of which have know been made public, stipulates that 70.4 billion kwanzas will be paid out by the state, and the remaining funding will be raised through credit. This year Angola is already expected to produce 48 percent of its corn requirements, thus reducing imports, which is another objective of the programme.
Just five of the provinces – Kwanza Sul, Benguela, Huíla, Huambo and Bié – covered by this programme account for 78 percent of the over 1.8 million Angolan families that in 2014 were involved in artisanal corn production. (macauhub/AO)
