Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea plans to kick start its farming sector through a $3.5 million project financed through its newly found petroleum wealth. The money will also be used to revamp the Institute for Promoting Agriculture which, created in 1996, "has not achieved its goals," state radio said on May 15.
According to experts, Equatorial Guinea's agricultural output only meets a third of national demand. The former Spanish colony depended on cocoa and coffee exports to eke out a living but the discovery of offshore oil in the 1990s changed the nation's fortunes, catapulting it to become Africa's third largest oil exporter. Cocoa production in 2005 plummeted to 1,993 tons against 3,628 tons the previous year, according to the Malabo chamber of commerce.
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May 17, 2007
Equatorial Guinea to kick-start farming
Categories cocoa, diversification, Equatorial Guinea, food security, productivity
