Recently, the media reported that 46 children die of malnutrition every day in Angola, data from the National Directorate of Public Health compiled in the first half of 2020.
"The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is aware of the information on vulnerability and levels of malnutrition, hence this engagement in the sector in order to increasingly strengthen national production", said the director general of the Institute of Agrarian Development (IDA ), when questioned by Lusa.
According to the official, as a response, to reverse the situation, the activity of that ministerial department focuses more on the acquisition and viability of inputs (raw material for agriculture) for producers.
For David Tunga, it is a joint effort between the ministries of Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, Planning and Health to respond to the challenges facing the country.
"It is a joint effort to effectively detect situations, especially in rural areas, and at central and provincial levels to design programs that can respond to these challenges facing the country," he said.
The IDA director, who was speaking to journalists at the end of a press conference alluding to World Food Day, which marks this Friday, assumed that the situation of malnourished children, due to lack of food, "is worrying".
"That is why we are implementing projects to increase production to this extent", he stressed.
David Tunga recalled the limitations imposed by the new coronavirus pandemic, especially in the field of food exports, noting that countries are taking internal measures to increase and improve production and productivity to "increase the availability of food to citizens".
According to the official, for the fight against hunger and poverty in the country, a set of actions is underway with emphasis on the Integrated Acceleration Plan for Family Agriculture and Fisheries.
The Project for the Development of Family Farming and Marketing (MOSAP), estimated at approximately US $ 95 million financed by the World Bank, and another called SAMAP, estimated at US $ 38 million, were also highlighted by the official.
"We also have the project for the recovery of family farming that is operating in the south of Angola with about US $ 8 million", he exemplified, adding that "the Government has a set of programs".
At the level of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, "we have programs linked to plant production, animal production, we have programs linked to the production of fisheries and aquaculture, so that set of projects then translates into the various actions that are underway".
The implementation of field schools, a methodology adopted by the Angolan Government for the transfer of knowledge of small technologies to rural communities, was also highlighted by David Tunga in the context of ongoing actions.
"We are training peasants, first in structuring them and then in organizing production, but we are also using this mechanism to strengthen the process of commercializing production," he said.
"Cultivate, Feed, Preserve. Together" is the motto of the celebrations of this World Food Day, which also marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
