Sweden has pledged $140-million (14,8-million euros) for rural agricultural development in Mozambique over the next three years, a Swedish official said on Monday.
Two thirds of the money will go towards the development of the northern Niassa province and the rest will be used to fund the government’s agricultural development programme (Proagri), said Swedish embassy official Larc Cholsson.
Niassa is Mozambique’s least developed province, though it has vast tracts of fertile land. ”We are aiming at setting up a foundation to promote small-scale farming and trade in the province of Niassa,” Cholsson said.
”Agriculture, being the engine of development in Mozambique, is our priority.”
Only five percent of Mozambique’s 35-million hectares of arable land is currently being utilised. Land in Mozambique belongs to the state and therefore cannot be sold, but leased.
In 1996 more than 20 South African commercial farmers settled in the sparsely populated Niassa province under a deal struck by the two governments, dubbed Mosagrius, which was aimed at ensuring food security in Mozambique and the rest of southern Africa.
The region is currently facing widespread famine due to drought. The Mosagrius scheme however ran into trouble after one of its key backers, South Africa’s Chamber for Agricultural Development in Africa (Sacada) pulled out.
Under Mosagrius, each farmer was granted about 1 500 hectares of land for agriculture and livestock for a renewable lease period of 50 years. – Sapa-AFP