The Italian government signed a financing agreement with Mozambique worth 16 million euros to enhance the agricultural projects combating poverty in the provinces of Manica and Sofala, in the centre of the country.
The two governments approved the first operational plan while attending a meeting of the joint commission in Chimoio, the capital of Manica. The Programme to support Rural Development (PADR) will be carried out in eight districts of the two provinces and will be managed by the Italian Development Cooperation. (Dondo, Nhamatanda, Chibabava, and Gorongosa in Sofala, and Gondola, Manica, Barue and Sussundenga in Manica)
Marina Karagianis, the spokesperson for the government of Sofala told the Beira newspaper, “Diario de Mocambique” that the programme was one of the themes discussed at a session of the provincial government that ended last Friday.
The programme’s general objective will be to improve the income and the socio economic condition of the rural population, focussing on the eight districts and will be operational from 2011 until 2013.
According to the newspaper, 500 euros of the 13 million euros under Mozambican management had been set aside for two new passenger vehicles for each district. The nine vehicles were handed over in the Sofala province and the governor Carvalho Muária said, “The technical assistance to agricultural operators in the family sector would be increasingly dynamic and the noose would be tightened on wildlife smugglers and illegal loggers.”
The program, which has a lifetime of three years, will further strengthen micro, small and medium sized businesses that operate in the agricultural sector. The program will increase competitiveness and productivity and contribute to the reduction of poverty in rural areas through the sustainable management and exploitation of natural resources. .
No comments:
Post a Comment