The Minister of Industry and Trade, Silvino Moreno, acknowledged the importance and urgency of strengthening the capacity of the Credit Line for Agricultural Commercialization (LCCA), an instrument co-financed by the Cereals Institute of Mozambique (ICM) and Gapi.

The instrument is available throughout the country through the fifteen branches of Gapi-Sociedade de Investimentos and its ten project implementation units, which work to finance hundreds of small and medium-sized traders involved in bringing the produce of hundreds of thousands of peasant families to market, a press release said.

"We all know Gapi and we know what they do, we are very pleased with their performance in implementing this credit line and we recognize the need to mobilize more resources to strengthen it, given the growing demand and its strategic importance," said the head of the Industry and Trade portfolio.

Gapi, as the government's strategic partner in this area, was present at all of them, and at some of them, new financing was contracted, symbolized by the delivery of cheques.

Since its creation in 2019 and until the end of 2023, the LCCA has financed 357 credit operations for an amount of MZN 425,200,000, of which 330, worth MZN 399,000,000, were for marketing and 27, worth MZN 26,200,000, were for agro-processing. Of the total number of operations, around 40% were for citizens under 35 years of age.

Representing Gapi at the central ceremony in Mandimba, the Northern Regional Director, Salomão Chaile, said that the LCCA "is an example of a partnership that promotes food and nutrition security and inclusive development".

He also stressed that "in Mozambique's economic and social structure, food and nutrition security and inclusive economic growth are like two sides of the same coin. One does not exist without the other.

"In a value chain context, agricultural marketing is a key link for development and is therefore part of Gapi's strategy. This value chain vision is indispensable, because integrating farmers into an income-generating system is not achieved simply by introducing technologies to make them produce more and better." Chaile said.

He added that "agricultural marketing is a key link for food and nutritional security, because if peasants' production is not converted into income that allows them to buy other goods and services, including other foods, there will be no incentive for peasants to change their traditional processes, which are confined to subsistence and therefore easily vulnerable".

During his speech at the central ceremonies, Chaile invited public and private entities to participate in the LCCA's financial and management structure, so that together they can strengthen the rural trade network and thus stimulate the production and recovery of agricultural surpluses, concluding that there is "no need to reinvent the wheel" when it comes to financial instruments to improve agricultural marketing in Mozambique. These words were applauded by the participants in the ceremony.

At the ceremonies commemorating the importance of agricultural marketing, Gapi representatives in all the provinces shared the institution's strategy, stressing that Gapi is a development finance company that promotes inclusion and access to credit through programs and projects that combine financial services with technical and management training.

They also promote assistance for the creation and operation of producer organizations that act as aggregators to achieve greater scale and sustainability in the marketing activity.