Maputo | Tuesday
THE European Union is providing Mozambique with 11 million euros (about 12 million dollars) to boost cash crops, including cotton and cashews, a senior government official said on Monday.
“The whole programme is aimed at reducing the incidence of poverty and creating food security in the rural areas,” said agriculture and rural development minister Helder Mupeia.
The announcement came at a press conference after Mupeia met with European commissioner Paul Nielson.
The EU-funded scheme will help local agro-industrial companies to revitalise cotton and cashew production, which has suffered a steep drop in part because of a donor-backed structural adjustment program.
Mozambique’s cashew industry has collapsed since the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) imposed liberalisation policies that removed tariff protections, sparking massive exports of raw nuts from India.
The new EU-funded scheme included the signing in Maputo of two contracts with companies that are also to boost food production.
Mozambique’s economy is dependent on agriculture, with about 80% of its 17-million people living by farming.
Nielson also announced this week that starting this year, the EU would increase its annual aid to Mozambique from about 117-million euros to about 150-million euros. – AFP