Luena - The secretary of State for Economy, Ivan dos Santos, said this Wednesday, in Luena, eastern Moxico Province, that the government has guaranteed 43 billion kwanzas ($1equals Kz 8.25) to finance the National Development Plan for Grain Production (Planagrão).
The plan will initially be developed in the provinces of Moxico, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul and Cuando Cubango, in an area of two million hectares, and each of the province has a quota of 500 thousand hectares.
Drafted in 2022, the Program has financing from the Development Bank of Angola (BDA) of more than 2 billion kwanzas and aims to double grain production by 2027, in order to guarantee food self-sufficiency in the country.
Planagrão involves promoting large-scale production of wheat, rice, soybeans and corn, improving soil productivity and profitability, increasing agricultural entrepreneurs and employment, promoting the value chain and guaranteeing a fixed income for producers.
According to the official, who was speaking after a courtesy meeting with the provincial governor, Ernesto Muangala, for the implementation of this program each promoter will have a maximum ceiling of 500 million kwanzas of credit from Angolan Investment Bank (BAI) for the acquisition of inputs.
According to the secretary, Planagrão focuses on the Eastern Region of the country, without harming the national coverage, having reiterated the appeal for producers to join the program.
“So far there is no constraint, we agreed to speed up the process and we have already done more detailed work in the provinces of Lunda Sul and Lunda Norte”, he disclosed.
He recalled that the government's main objective is to guarantee food and nutritional security.
The Provincial Government of Moxico identified has 452,000 hectares, distributed across five municipalities, for the implementation of the National Development Plan for the Production of Planagrão Grains.
These are the municipalities of Camanongue (105 thousand), Cameia (85 thousand), Alto Zambeze (73 thousand) and Bundas (65 thousand), in 17 locations in the province.
The National Technical Unit for monitoring PLANAGRÃO, which works in this province, will verify areas identified for the implementation of the Plan.
MT/TC/YD/CF/jmc
