Mozambican agriculture is characterized
by smallholding's. Of the 3.6 million families in Mozambique,
87% are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods; 98% of
these families have no formal land titles. The average size of
a holding is 1.24 ha and the predominant farming system is based
on the rain-fed production of cereals and tubers. These smallholding's
are farmed using manual labour and hand tools with only minimal
use of chemical inputs, animal traction, farm machinery, and tools
that are more sophisticated. Any inputs that are used are mostly
acquired through the informal economy. This type of farming system
imposes physical limits on the area that can be cultivated and
the yields that can be generated; a natural limit is therefore
also imposed on the total quantity of food that can be produced
for self-consumption and/or for sale.
Over 80% of the total area of cultivated land
is used for the production of staple food crops; maize and cassava
are the staples produced by the overwhelming majority of holdings,
with maize, cassava and cowpeas comprising 60 % of total cultivated
land. Cereals (maize, sorghum, rice and millet) account for 46%
of total area cultivated, cassava for 17%, beans for 11%, and
oilseeds for 9%. Horticulture is produced on only 5% of the land
and cash crops (sugar cane, cotton, tea, oilseeds, tobacco) are
cultivated on just 6%. In addition, 40% of all households make
use of indigenous plants and herbs for food and/or medicinal purposes.
Current support interventions
• Promotion of crop diversification
and horticulture in the Maputo Green Zones through provision of
agricultural inputs and training of extension staff and farmers
• Promotion of crop intensification
and diversification through the Special Programme for Food Security
in Maputo, Manica, Sofala and Zambezia Provinces
• Promotion of Conservation
Agriculture in Manica, Nampula and Maputo Provinces
Potential support interventions
• Improve the subsistence-farming
sector by drawing on the experiences gained by the SPFS in the
field of intensification and diversification of crop production.
Specific attention should be given to the improvement and stabilization
of input supply (availability of seeds), the systematic use of
water resources through low cost and small-scale irrigation schemes,
and the reduction of post harvest losses by the promotion and
application of appropriate storage and processing techniques.
• Promote the development
of private sector capacities, with specific emphasis on assisting
producer organizations to become partners of development.
• Develop horticulture, fruit,
and tuber production in urban and semi-urban areas, aimed at improving
food security and developing the market for this produce.
• Introduce integrated pest
and production management, with the aim of promoting the use of
low-cost and sustainable organic materials and cropping techniques
(IPPM).
• Establishment of a Phytosanitary
Control System
Constraints of the cashew sector
• Low production
is mainly attributed to: low tree yields (due to unsuitable climatic
conditions in some regions, poor soil fertility, inadequate establishment
and management of cashew groves, and the use of unselected seed);
poor nut quality; disease and pest incidence and damage; poor
husbandry; bushfires; limited new plantings/lack of suitable planting
materials; inadequate agricultural services support; tree ageing,
and neglect.
• Constraints related to
processing : low industrial efficiency and financial
unfeasibility of plant and equipment in nut processing factories
(inadequate technology and equipment, mixture of processing technologies,
distance of raw materials from processing plants); high wastage
of cashew apples, with a small proportion being processed at peasant
level; and inadequate structures to compete in a global and free
market.
• Marketing: poor
information on international marketing of kernels and raw nuts;
poor transport facilities; lack of quality control systems; and
poor information on marketing potential of fresh cashew apples
and apple by-products.
Potential support interventions in the
cashew sector
• Provide assistance for
the implementation of the restructuring programme for the processing
industry.
• Provide/support training
in cashew apple and fruit processing in the high production zones.
• Assist the development
of small-scale agro-industries to help small farmers and their
families to initiate their own productive activity, based on agro-processing.
Production, processing, and marketing of food products at small
and medium-scale levels should be integrated. A package that includes
training, credit facilities, appropriate plant design, processing
equipment, packaging materials and a marketing label needs to
be provided.
• Assist in the establishment
of new cashew nut processing units in the rural zones, using labour
intensive technologies.
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