Mbanza Kongo - At least 80,000 tonnes of oranges, produced last year in the bordering municipality of Nóqui, in north-west Zaire province, have spoiled due to lack of outflow.
The municipal director of Agriculture, Tuzolana Mudiambu, told ANGOP on Monday that the situation is worrying local farmers who have the production of citrus fruits as their main source of income and survival.
He said that by 2021, close to 56,000 tonnes of oranges were also at risk of rotting in the town bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The agronomist also said that, in addition to the poor state of the roads between production sites and consumption centres, the closure of borders due to Covid-19 further aggravated the situation.
Tuzolana Mudiambu said that before the pandemic broke out, around 70 percent of citrus production in Nóqui municipality was sold in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and 30 percent on national markets, mainly in Luanda.
