The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADER) is monitoring the resumption of agricultural activity in the resettlement centers of displaced people, and in some districts of Cabo Delgado province, affected by the terrorist attacks, under the emergency window of the Sustenta.

Just over 400,000 displaced families received about 79,601 agricultural input kits, consisting of seeds, fertilizers, hoes, machetes, among others. As part of the initiative, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Olegário Banze, visited some districts in southern Cabo Delgado, namely Metuge, Ancuabe, Balama, and Montepuez, to monitor the stage of crops and encourage displaced people to engage in production.

In addition to the resettlement centers, the team went to some communities in the districts of Mueda and Muidumbe, north of Cabo Delgado, where the population tends to return to their villages, a year after they fled, due to the intensification of terrorist attacks.

In these communities, the population has taken up agriculture again, and is currently engaged in hoeing. The crops, especially corn and legumes, are growing fast, with signs of good agricultural production.

Speaking to journalists, Olegário Banze classified the program as promising, believing that it will achieve its objective, which is to take displaced families away from dependence on food aid from the government and partners, giving them the capacity to produce food, since there is land for that.

Olegário Banze affirmed that in all the visited fields, either in the resettlement centers, or in the return villages, he saw the interest of the population in producing food, in the expectation of better days, despite the situation imposed by the terrorists. In Muidumbe district, Banze went to the headquarters of the administrative post of Miteda, where he dialogued with peasants who did not hide their satisfaction for the Government's gesture.

"We were pleased to learn that the distributed inputs are being used to produce food. In all the fields visited, we witnessed the delivery of the population in resuming subsistence activities, with emphasis on agriculture. From the appearance of the plants, given the regular rainfall, we believe in a good agricultural production in this campaign," said Banze.

The governor referred that besides agricultural inputs, the Government has assigned extension workers, in all resettlement centers and beyond, to support the peasants in agricultural production techniques and in combating possible pests that could compromise production.

Meanwhile, the administrator of Muidumbe district, Saíde Ali Chabane, told "Notícias" that in all the villages of the district that had been abandoned by the population, due to the attacks, there are signs of return of the population that is involved in agricultural production, hoping that more people will return in the near future.

"The population tends to return, although in a timid way. Muidumbe has about 14,000 displaced people who left for various places and, at this moment, the families who returned are producing, thanks to the support of the agriculture sector that provided inputs. I don't have, at this moment, the extension number of open areas in this campaign, but the important thing is that everyone is producing again", he referred.