According to a statement from the government of the Province of Cuanza Norte, the "entry into the scene" of the FAA in the management of the aforementioned farm aims to intensify the production levels of the aforementioned grains, but also of beans.
"The commune of Samba Lucala could soon become the largest producer of corn and soy in the northern region of Angola, with the entry into the scene of the Angolan Armed Forces, FAA, in the management of the Samba Lucala Farm, linked to Gesterra, to intensify the production levels of these grains, as well as beans, where specific forms of inclusion of local populations in the production process are foreseen", reads the statement.
The note from the provincial government also states that, recently, the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, authorized, through a presidential decree, the transfer of farm management to "the sphere of the FAA".
Thus, this Thursday, February 29th, the agricultural enterprise received a "visit from the Minister of National Defense, Former Combatants and Veterans of the Fatherland, João Ernesto dos Santos Liberdade", who noted the "real dimension of the project, accompanied of the Agriculture and Forestry counterpart, Francisco de Assis, in an act witnessed by the provincial governor, João Diogo Gaspar and senior FAA officials".
On the occasion, Fábio Belo, head of the Investment Center of the FAA Social Security Institute, made it known that the idea involves producing food to "supply the troops", with the surplus destined for the national market.
According to the person responsible, production will be guaranteed by former military personnel and demobilized personnel from that force.
In turn, Eduardo Barros, executive administrator of Gesterra, said that "each hectare of the farm produces" between seven and eight thousand kilograms of corn, as well as five thousand kilograms per hectare for soybeans.
The official also said that it was "a project that, if well secured, could become a production hub that will make Angolans proud".
Eduardo Barros also mentioned that, so far, 59 direct jobs have been created, "prioritizing young people from peripheral villages who, at this time, handle a large part of all the cutting-edge technology in use on the farm, which is being implemented in an area of 10 thousand hectares, of which 1265 are irrigated with 23 pivots, fed through a 450 cubic meter water containment dam 18 meters deep", reads the statement.
It should also be noted that the Samba Lucala Farm is undergoing "advanced technical trials to include large-scale crops of cereals such as rice and wheat", being the "public initiative in the field of agriculture, which currently uses the most advanced technology in its entire production process".
According to Angop, the infrastructure benefited from public investment in the order of 54.6 million dollars, being capable of producing 30 thousand tons of corn, beans and soybeans per year.
