Maputo, 9 October (AIM) – The government intends to strengthen coordination between public institutions, producers, the private sector, financial institutions and cooperation partners in order to define common priorities and mobilize resources for agricultural development in Mozambique, said Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Roberto Albino.
During the previous government mandate, the agricultural development strategy focused on the SUSTNETA project, now completed. With the conclusion of this mandate, the current government wishes to define a new approach to the development of the sector, based on coordination between the different actors and the identification of common priorities.
The Governor spoke in Maputo province on the occasion of the closing of the first Coordinating Council of the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries (MAAP), during which he called for the strengthening of the Agricultural Sector Coordinating Committee (ASC) as a coordination platform among the various stakeholders in the sector.
According to Albino, the committee should bring together the government, producers, entrepreneurs, financial institutions, academia and cooperation partners to identify priorities and coordinate interventions in the agricultural sector.
The Minister also called for greater involvement of provincial and district institutions in the development of public policies and programs, including problem identification, solution formulation and evaluation of results.
“The province and the district should not be considered merely places of application of the central guidelines. They must be involved in identifying problems, defining solutions and evaluating results,” he said.
In the area of financing, Albino highlighted the mobilisation of private investment and the improvement of access to credit as avenues for identifying interventions in this sector, taking into account the limits of available public resources.
” Public resources are limited and must be rigorously applied to the core functions of the sector, service delivery and investments that produce real impact,” he said.
The Governor also advocated the development of value chains linking agricultural production to processing and markets, with a view to facilitating the expansion of the activities of producers and entrepreneurs.
” It is not about replacing the initiative of producers and entrepreneurs, but about removing barriers that limit their ability to produce, innovate and create jobs,” he added.
Albino also mentioned the need to coordinate the agriculture, environment and fisheries sectors in the planning and implementation of public programmes, through interventions guided by common priorities.
In this context, he argued that the Economic and Social Plan and the State Budget (PESOE) for 2027 should incorporate an integrated approach for the sectors under the ministry, with defined objectives and indicators.
The Minister also noted that the Strategic Plan for the Development of the Agricultural Sector (PEDSA 2036) was a reference tool to guide interventions in the sector, in conjunction with other strategic documents of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (DFA).
(AIM)