"We have visited this commune several times, which has favorable conditions for wheat production, and we hope to reach peak production with 73 thousand tons within four years," said José Gomes da Silva, director of the Provincial Office of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in Benguela, speaking to Angop.
With financing from the Agrarian Development Support Fund (FADA) and the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC), the initiative consists of more than 20 thousand hectares of cultivable land ready to relaunch the production of this cereal in Chicuma, said the person in charge.
Quoted by Angop, José Gomes da Silva informed that 3500 families will benefit from the project. Of these more than 3000 farmers, he said, 2500 are already registered.
In terms of jobs, he said that it is estimated that more than 13 thousand direct jobs will be created.
The official also assured the support of the provincial government, as the initiative is in line with the country's strategy of promoting grain production, with a focus on wheat, rice and soybeans in the current agricultural year.
Thus, he recalled the approval, by the Government, of the National Grain Production Promotion Plan (Planagrão), aiming to reduce imports of these cereals, which in his opinion will help achieve food self-sufficiency in Angola.
He also said that the country has good climatic conditions to produce grains in different areas, with Chimuca being perfect for promoting wheat on a large scale, writes Angop.
Among other aspects, he said that the project counts on the collaboration of national and foreign participants, mainly experts from Brazil. "Today, agriculture cannot be done without science and know-now. It is impossible," he added, also mentioning that Angolans are taking advantage of the Brazilians' experience, with the aim of reaching peak production in four years.
He also considered that now it is enough to work, as the initiative is viable at a technical and financial level, having also mentioned that the first experiments, carried out in the 2021/2022 agricultural campaign, achieved "brilliant results", having harvested approximately 9000 tons of wheat.
