ANGOLA – The Agrarian Development Support Fund (FADA) of Angola is set to inject Akz 15 billion (US $26.3million) in this year’s agricultural season to enhance crop production in the country through offering credit to family farmers.

The funding will enable the farmers acquire agricultural inputs such as tractors, fertilizers, pesticides, production tools, agricultural seeds, as well as other means to guarantee the development of agriculture in better conditions, reports Angola Press.

According to Carlos Fernandes, CEO of FADA, the financing will promote diversification of the economy and reduce imports of various food items as the project also focuses on supporting  marketing of the produces.

The expected results of the project is job creation, improvement on the means of nutritional subsistence and facilitate the development of value chains in the agricultural sector.

According to the director of the provincial office for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Marcolino Sandemba, in the 2019-2020 agricultural campaign 800,000 tons of different products are to be harvested, with emphasis on cereals (corn and rice) and vegetables, almost double in terms of compared to the previous campaign.

The harvest is made by more than 101,000 farming families, assisted through the Mosap II project, within the scope of the Rural and Agricultural Promotion Programme.

The Smallholder Agriculture Development and Commercialization Project (SADCP, also known as MOSAP II) intends to scale-up activities being implemented under the ongoing Market Oriented Smallholder Agriculture Project (MOSAP) and will also finance critical new activities, as per government’s medium and long-term agriculture programs.

The project is implemented over a period of five years since April 2016 through June 30, 2021.

The total project cost is estimated to be US$ 95 million, of which US$20 million is in-kind and cash contributions by the Government of Angola and US$5 million is in-kind and/or cash contributions by the project beneficiaries.

A US$70 million International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loan constitutes the remainder of the total project cost.

Liked this article? Subscribe to DealStreet Africa News, our regular email newsletter with the latest news, deals and insights from Africa’s business, economy and more. SUBSCRIBE HERE