According to the balance presented by the person responsible, in 2019 the costs of importing this cereal were 286 million dollars, while in the following year the import of rice cost the country 347 million dollars. In 2021 and 2022, Angola disbursed 263 million dollars and 271 million dollars, respectively.
However, Domingos Veloso says it is possible to reverse this scenario. "It is possible for us to produce rice in our country, it is possible to reverse the current situation. I bring here some numbers to reflect what the country has spent in terms of rice production, what we could save if these resources were invested internally", he said, quoted by Rádio Nacional de Angola (RNA).
"Here I have some numbers related to the last four years: in 2022, the country imported 507 thousand tons of rice, we spent 271 million dollars; in 2021, the previous year, we imported 408,722 tons, we spent 263 million dollars; in the previous year In 2020, we imported 537 thousand tons, spent 347 million dollars, and finally, in 2019, we imported 450 thousand tons of rice and spent 286 million dollars", he added.
The country has been witnessing an evolution in the production of this cereal, whose production is around 21 thousand tons, a number that, according to the national director of forestry, is still low taking into account consumption needs. "We have been witnessing an evolution in rice production. Today we already have a production of around 21 thousand tons, which is still very little taking into account the consumption needs we have", he stated, quoted by RNA.
"As part of the preparation of the agricultural campaign, IDA sent some seeds to the municipal administrations to ensure this initial phase of the campaign. These inputs, not only seeds, but inputs in general, are being distributed by the municipal administrations and, gradually, we will see an increase not only in terms of the distribution of these inputs but also of the seeds themselves because we have to be aware that the seeds are not produced internally, as we only have two companies producing seeds in Angola, which is very little", added the person responsible, speaking to RNA.
The needs have been met through imports, something he considers not to be "the most ideal". "The needs have been met using imports, this is not the most ideal, the ideal is for the seed to be produced locally", he said.
