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Agriculture
Cotton production is expecting to grow
Prize cheques for best Farmer’s association, Greater Plutonio
Microcredit Program, Cubal, Benguela. Photo credit BP.
Another remarkable project of agribusiness is locat-
ed in Cacanda, province of Lunda Norte. Based on
an area of 10,000 hectares, the project has required
an investment of US$ 29 million and is managed by
the Israeli Grupo LR. Once the rehabilitation works
concluded, it will provide 10,000 jobs to local popula-
tion and the infrastructure could be later extended to
further areas in the province. It will include 6 farms, a
greenhouse, an industrial slaughterhouse, a training
center and a medical center.
Other countries such Brazil are involved in massive
projects as well as South Korea which has invested
substantial means into the Angolan bio-fuel industry,
aquaculture and cotton.
The importance of the agricultural sector on em-
ployment, food security and long-term sustainable
growth is obvious although its impact on GDP re-
mains small. Rural economy that includes agricul-
ture, fishing activities and livestock is the second
most productive sector after oil and gas in terms of
employment: two thirds of population still depend on
agriculture for food, income and employment.
Conscious about the crucial importance of capital-
ising on Angola’s comparative advantage in food
production and face a globally rising risk of food in-
security, the government has opened specific credit
lines to support alimentary projects and launched an
agricultural campaign at the beginning of June 2011.
About US$ 350 million has been set aside to finance
series of programmes targeting the agricultural sec-
tor. Substantial tax incentives are offered to compa-
nies investing in the rural regions of Angola
Improve production would be useless without the de-
velopment of the infrastructure to effectively market
the production. Works to rehabilitate the railway are
supervised by the PRIR (Programa de Rehabilitação
de Infraestructuras Rodoviarias). The establishment
of cold chain facilities would also encourage the re-
mote provinces of Angola to increase their produc-
tion, notably in the fishing industry.
Angola needs foreign partnerships to bring expertise
in production, technology and know-how to modern-
ize the sector. The country is seeking to adopt new
techniques for the natural resources exploration, the
best global practices for land preparation, sowing, ir-
rigation, collection and commercialization.
Numerous cooperation projects are underway with
various nations. Lately the Spanish government
invested several million dollars through the AECID
(Spanish International Agency for Development) in a
project focused in access to land in the provinces of
Huambo and Bié.
China is an important partner in agricultural projects:
in April 2007, Sinohydro was contracted US$ 54
million to set up irrigation systems in four regions -
Caxito (Bengo), Gandgelas (Huila), Luena (Moxico)
and Waco-Kongo (Kwanza Sul). In 2008, Sinohydro
completed the construction of the Gangelas hydro-
electric dam and irrigation channel in Chibia, situ-
ated some 20 kilometres south of Lubango in Huila
Province. The project was funded by China’s EXIM
Bank. In March 2009 the Chinese government grant-
ed US$ 1 Bn to Angola for the development of its
agricultural sector.