The National Federation of Agricultural Associations of Mozambique (FENAGRI) is creating facilities to help small farmers acquire agricultural equipment, an initiative aimed at increasing production and productivity, including access to the market.

FENAGRI presented agricultural products and technologies last week in Maputo, as part of an initiative by Honda South Africa called the "Ambassador Program", in partnership with Afritool.

The presentations include plows, subsoilers, automatic sprayers, brushcutters, scarifiers, rotary hoes, motor-pump harrows and other state-of-the-art technology.

The president of FENAGRI, Hernani Mussanhane, explained at the event that the program will in principle support around 60 associations of small producers. Each association can bring together around 500 members.

"It's not possible to cover everyone [...] this is a pilot phase, and we will try to cover as much as possible, but those who will be covered will have to make a difference," said Mussanhane.

During a production cycle, which lasts around four months, the Honda equipment will be available free of charge, with the small farmer only having to pay for fuel and maintenance.

This is a stage in which the small farmer needs to know how to handle the machinery and how it adds value to his production and productivity.

According to Mussanhane, most producers don't know how to use the equipment, "so this is an opportunity to access mechanization".

The interlocutor said that Honda wants to have equipment available for rental and to enable small farmers to learn how to use it and, ultimately, to have the small financial capacity to rent out the machines.

"After all this time, we believe that with the new technologies, the new way of producing, this small farmer will be able to buy his own equipment, either in installments or with the support of the Federation," he said.