The project "Promove AGribiz" aims to assist until 2024 in rural extension services over 280 thousand small producers in the provinces of Nampula and Zambezia, in order to ensure the sustainable growth of agricultural production, towards the improvement of their living conditions.

According to Notícias, currently, the project, which is being implemented in the two provinces since 2019, directly assists more than 12,000 small producers and 18,000 in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with access to formal financial services.

Additionally, about 1200 small farmers and MSMEs have already been integrated into supply chains of larger local companies.

By next year, 11,000 small farmers and MSMEs are expected to be integrated through different partnerships.

These data were made public this Tuesday, in the city of Nampula, at a meeting to present the results of the first two years of the project, which brought together representatives of the government, private sector and cooperation partners, under the slogan "For a sustainable and market-oriented agriculture.

The project coordinator for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dario Cipolla, said that "Promove Agribiz" aims to contribute to the improvement of food security and resilience of small producers, as well as to the increase of rural competitiveness, in the provinces of Nampula and Zambezia, the most populous of the country.

"Another very important aspect of this project is that a large part of the farmers we work with are already prepared to adapt to climate change, with an awareness that they must be more resilient in practicing sustainable agriculture," he noted.

The program is co-financed with 69.9 million euros by the European Union, the German Federal Ministry for Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and FAO. Its implementation is in charge of (GIZ) GmbH, FAO, the World Bank's Impact Evaluation group (DIME) and the National Fund for Sustainable Development (FNDS), in partnership with the ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADER) and Industry and Trade (MIC), the provincial and district governments of Nampula and Zambezia, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations.