This Thursday (27), Norway made a commitment to allocate around 94 million US dollars to support small producers in six African countries, including Mozambique.

Of this package, 19 million dollars will fund the work of the Royal Norwegian Society for Development (Norges Vel) in Mozambique and Tanzania over the next five years.

"Mozambique is an important partner for Norway in the fight to improve food security, currently with an aid package budgeted at approximately 75 million dollars in various ongoing programs and projects," says a statement from the Norwegian government, quoted by the AIM.

With the recently announced support, 75,000 small Mozambican farmers will have access to cashew seedlings and will receive training in agroforestry.

"The aim is to increase food production in periods when food production is normally low and to produce cashew nuts as a source of income. The aim is for greater diversity in production to result in both increased yields and greater resilience," he explains.

Under the new agreement, according to the statement, the cooperative movement in the country will also be supported in organizing farmers to develop the cashew value chain, with special attention to women.

"They will also contribute to the production of safe, aflatoxin-free food through the production and distribution of AflaSafe. Aflatoxins pose a health risk because they are carcinogenic and stunt children's growth and mental development. By making food safer, important gains can be made for the health of Mozambicans," he says.

Also as part of this package, Norges Vel, in partnership with NORCAP (an initiative of the Norwegian Refugee Council - NRC), will develop and provide meteorological and financial services, making small-scale food producers more resilient to climate change.

Norges Vel has been working in Mozambique since 2003 in Zambezia, in collaboration with Clusa. It has also been a partner of AMPCM (Mozambican Association for the Promotion of Modern Cooperativism) since 2015 in Nampula, and more recently in Zambézia and Niassa.

(Photo DR)