The Mozambican government, in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), has invested US$44 million in the production and processing of vegetables, Chairman of the Administrative Council (PCA) of state-owned Lower Limpopo Irrigation System, Armando Ussivane has revealed.

The investment is being applied within the public company’s Irrigation and Climate Change Resilience framework (BLICRP), which aims to boost and promote the production and conservation of horticultural crops in Gaza.

The government initiative also covers irrigation and the management of hydraulic infrastructures, land and water for the production of vegetables throughout the year, Ussivane explains.

But this initiative goes further because it also intends to “place the products on the market and reduce the losses – estimated at more than 20 percent – that occur in the post-harvest period”.

To implement the project, a central processing unit has been built to buy vegetables from producers. The unit will wash, select, weigh and package the produce.

To facilitate the sale of produce, 47.6 kilometres of rural roads were built, one main road 17.3 kilometres long, and two secondary ones, 20.8 and 9.5 kilometres long respectively.

The plant however is not ready for long-term storage, so currently only operates according to market demand.

“The processing unit will bring about major changes. We are now working on creating a supplier chain, because they want sustainable negotiation. We need to select suppliers capable of meeting logistics qualifications and work with distribution agents in the national and South African markets,” Ussivane said.

The horticultural processing centre, with the capacity to handle between 20 to 25 tons of vegetables per day, occupies an area of 2,114 square metres, of which 400 square metres are for offices and warehouses.

Source: O País/ COM