Mozambique currently exploits around 5.5 million hectares of arable land, which corresponds to less than 20% of the approximately 30 million hectares available in the country.

The information was shared this Tuesday in Maputo by the representative of the Mozambican Association of Economists (AMECOM), Helton Leonardo, during the National Conference on Small-Scale Agriculture in Mozambique, Challenges and Opportunities, who lamented the fact that there is a lot of idle land in the country and that what is being exploited is based on archaic methods.

"We have more than 30 million hectares for cultivation in the country and we are exploiting less than 20% of this sector, or around 5.5 million hectares. This means that we still haven't exploited our land and most of this has been done manually," said Helton Leonardo, quoted by AIM.

The source also said that there is a big gap between the contribution that agriculture makes to the national GDP and what it receives from the State Budget.

"Agriculture in Mozambique contributes an average of 23% to GDP, but the state budget for investment in this sector has been tiny, around four percent, which means that less than 20% of this sector's contribution has not been invested in it," he said.

In fact, 95% of the country's agriculture is practiced by small farmers and only five percent is commercial.

"One of the main challenges I can mention here is technical and methodological help, even after independence, the various projects, the various policies that have been implemented, the agricultural sector remains static, in other words the productivity levels in this sector are low, small producers need inputs, general support in terms of logistics," he pointed out.

The panelist also pointed out that the situation of agriculture in Mozambique is characterized by investments in various projects, but without their sustainability, which is why it needs to be better capitalized.

"In countries like Mozambique, developing countries, agriculture must be the basis for development," he concluded.