Post-war Angola seeks to revive agriculture

Angola's economy is booming as a result of growing oil production but much of its fresh fruit, vegetables and meat is still imported. It is often more cost-effective and convenient to import produce from countries such as South Africa, the agricultural giant of the southern Africa region, than it is to have them grown locally and brought to market.

Angolan officials blame inefficient farming, poor roads and the devastation of a 27-year civil war for the distortions. "Certain products such as apples are easier to bring from South Africa than locally. This is because of inadequate logistics and transport. Our big disability is the poor state of roads, which makes the cost of transport very high," said Joaquim Gomes, the national director of agriculture.

Agriculture was a significant part of the Angolan economy under Portuguese rule, with coffee exports being one of the mainstays of exports. The colony was the world's third largest coffee exporters between 1973 and 1974. Production, however, collapsed shortly after independence in 1975 and during the ensuing civil war, which ended in 2002. Four million people were displaced during the conflict, bringing the agricultural sector to a virtual standstill.

Now the country is trying to change all this.Gomes said the government was developing a network of warehouses, packaging and refrigeration facilities and wholesale markets and supermarkets to help farmers get their produce to consumers. "We are now working with farmers to stock them up with local goods to slowly replace imported goods," Gomes said.

He said 2.2 million families stood to benefit directly from the plan, dubbed PRESILD, to move the country's agricultural production from subsistence-level farming to a commercially viable one capable of feeding Angola's 15 million people.

Current coffee production is about one percent of what it was shortly before the Portuguese left. Only about 10 percent of the country's arable land is under cultivation, according to Gomes. The ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) concedes that it must start with basics as it tries to revive the agricultural sector.

"Our primary objective is to guarantee food security to the population and to simultaneously work towards alleviating poverty," said Gomes, who noted that cereal production had significantly improved since the end of the war.

Foreign firms also have expressed an interest in producing ethanol and biodiesel in Angola, an idea that the government is considering and one that could give a boost to the agricultural sector.

Reuters