Specialists from FAO HQ attended to the event

27 July 2017, Maputo – The importance of coherent agriculture and trade policies are crucial in promoting agricultural productivity. In Mozambique, the majority of the population are employed in agriculture related sectors, yet initiatives to improve agricultural productivity in the country are often constrained by the market and trade-related bottlenecks, which are a result of incoherent agricultural and trade policies. This not only affects Mozambique's international trade potential but also creates obstacles in the pursuit of achieving food security and the sustainable development goal of zero hunger for all.

To address this challenge and to assess the coherence of policy and coordination mechanisms between the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MASA) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIC), FAO, with support from the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) and the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) facilitated a two-day workshop in Maputo (25 - 26 July 2017).

Among the objectives of the meeting was the aligning of sectoral policy interventions and promoting strategic use of public and private resources. Speaking at the workshop, Luísa Meque, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, noted that the agricultural sector contributed to at least 25 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). She further reaffirmed the government's commitment to increasing agricultural production and productivity. "Our efforts are aimed at aiming at ensuring food and nutrition security, supply to industry and diversification of exports," she said.

The workshop, which follows of a dialogue on policy coherence between trade and agriculture, held in Maputo last year, was attended by a cross section of stakeholders from the Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security; Industry and Commerce; Economy and Finance, private sector representatives and donor groups.

Need for improved coordination between all stakeholders

FAO Representative for Mozambique, Castro Camarada stressed on the important correlation between agriculture and trade and its implication on investments. "Trade related policies and agreements play a fundamental role in providing the regulatory framework to attract the private investments needed to diversify and add value to African agricultural production but, the development and implementation of coherent and appropriate policies and strategies to realize the full benefits still to be achieved," he said.

The workshop was able to identify areas that require attention and these include;
• dissemination of existing policies, plans and strategies to the public
• elaboration and publication of agricultural production and trade data
• coherence and coordination of the policies

Wadzanai Katsande, an economist with FAO also commented on how improving the horizontal communication and coordination between MASA and MIC was critical in ensuring a stable platform that allows for "real-time" exchanges thus improving the planning, management and implementation of the policy instruments.