Agriculture in Mozambique accounts for around three-quarters of the workforce, “but generates approximately one-quarter of the economy’s value added”, the Minister of Planning and Development has said at the presentation of a book on the sector.
Salim Valá was speaking at the launch in Maputo of the book Agriculture and Economic Transformation in Mozambique: Evidence, Policies and Pathways to Development, which brings together the findings of around a decade of research into the challenges and opportunities facing the agricultural sector.
In his presentation, the minister advocated investment in technology, mechanisation, irrigation and technical assistance, as well as financing and risk management instruments adapted to the circumstances of small-scale producers.
Among the figures presented on Wednesday, it stands out that only 0.2% of Mozambique’s small and medium-sized agricultural holdings have access to agricultural credit, while 6.2% use irrigation.
Valá recalled that data from the National Statistics Institute’s (INE) third Agricultural Census, conducted in 2023–2024, also indicate that 9.3% of holdings use fertilisers, 6.7% benefit from agricultural extension services and 1.7% use tractors, while 59.9% use mobile wallets (banking services provided via mobile phone).
He highlighted that Mozambique has around 36 million hectares of arable land, of which approximately three million are considered irrigable, but only about 50,000 hectares are actually irrigated. The average rate of agricultural sales per farming household is around 12%, reflecting the predominance of production intended for self-consumption.
“Agriculture is an engine that we already have running,” he said, calling for greater coordination between agricultural production, industry, trade and markets to turn the country’s potential into productivity, income and economic opportunities.
Developed in partnership with the International Growth Centre (IGC) and the Mozambique Grain Institute (ICM), the book launched today brings together contributions from 15 researchers on productivity, financing, markets, value chains, industrialisation and climate resilience. The book seeks to bring scientific research closer to public policy decisions and identify measures to drive economic transformation.
Alberto da Cruz, one of the authors, explained that their research seeks to identify the obstacles preventing agricultural potential from being translated into economic growth and industrialisation, pointing to constraints relating to infrastructure, statistical information and links between production areas and markets.
“The problem is not a lack of potential, because the country has that potential,” he said, highlighting the example of pigeon peas, whose farm-gate price reportedly fell from 45 to five meticais (€0.62 to €0.07) per kilogramme in one year. The example illustrates the risks of concentrating exports in a single market and the need to diversify trading destinations and develop domestic processing, he said.
Egas Daniel, the book’s organiser and presenter, advocated a coordinated approach to tackling the sector’s constraints, stressing that access to credit alone does not resolve difficulties relating to transport, storage, marketing and protection against climate risks.
“The farmer is not irrational,” he said, arguing that producers may limit production in the face of high risks, a lack of guaranteed markets and the absence of appropriate agricultural insurance. The book therefore advocates coordination between public policies, private investment and research to increase productivity and integrate small-scale producers into value chains.
Source: Lusa