The aforementioned program, according to a statement from CIPRA, to which VerAngola had access, aims to "expand agricultural production and productivity, the production of forest goods in a family environment, oriented towards the market". Furthermore, it also aims to "reinforce levels of technical training and expand financing to the family farming subsector in a decentralized, simple and unbureaucratic way".
On the occasion, the president of the FADA Board of Directors, Felisbela Francisco, said that this program is budgeted at more than 85 billion kwanzas. "The program is valued at more than 85 billion kwanzas and with the implementation of this program we hope to reach around 196,332 hectares of cultivated land", said the person responsible, quoted by Rádio Nacional de Angola (RNA).
In terms of production, she said, they expect to harvest more than three million tons of various products that are part of the basic basket "including cereals, roots and tubers and vegetables".
In the social domain, according to Felisberta Francisco, "it is expected to maintain existing jobs and also create other employment opportunities (...)", estimating that "this program will benefit more than 660 families".
"The program foresees the creation of community funds in agricultural cooperatives and, by the end of the program, we expect to finance more than 1119 cooperatives with community funds", she pointed out, adding: "We also intend to create a technological package in order to create a combination between input equipment in which we will finance not only equipment, but also a working fund so that farmers can purchase inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers, fertilizers", she said, cited by RNA.
Among other measures, the person in charge said that it also includes the implementation of the "figure of the FADA agent", who will act as a "banking agent representing FADA at community level".
"We are also planning to establish agreements with companies that have a certain expertise in agricultural activity, so that they can serve as anchors and can help our farmers with technical assistance and the guarantee of the purchase of production", she stated.
Quoted by RNA, she also said that they intend to "strengthen the technical intervention of field schools and agrarian development stations by recruiting more technicians and making more equipment available."
In addition to the approval of the family farming acceleration program, in this Tuesday's session, the body also considered "two diplomas that approve the appointment of the heads of the ministerial departments responsible for development cooperation and public finances for the positions of Governor of Angola and Deputy Governor, respectively, at the World Bank and the African Development Bank", reads the CIPRA note.
Another topic highlighted was related to irrigated perimeters. At the meeting, they were informed about the Irrigated Perimeters Regulation, a document that "defines the tariff model applied in those agricultural production spaces, among other aspects linked to their functioning in the future".
Family farming contributes more than 80 percent of the food products in the national basic basket.
