It started operating the Agricultural Credit Line for Commercialization (ACLC), launched last December by the Mozambique Cereals Institute and Gapi. Around US $175.000,00 (10.5 Million Meticais) have already been awarded in financing proposals for companies operating in rural areas of Niassa, Tete and Nampula provinces.The ACLC Steering Committee is prioritizing the companies acting in the border areas so that the national food production remains in national territory.
The commercialization of food products with emphasis on maize and beans and impacting on rural communities in the Doa district (Tete) is one of the commercial operations prioritized by the ACLC Committee. This funding will benefit more than 10,000 families living in communities such as Cachere, Mara, Michone, Sabgomba, Manoriza, Missocossa and Thapo in the same district.
Another beneficiary is a company located in Niassa involved in the food industry that drives the cereal commercialization value chain in the small-scale producers in that province, helping to create a route to the market of its products with capacity to process two tons. With ACLC’s credit, the company believes that it can play a crucial role in the local cereals value chain, especially in the Lichinga, Mandimba, Maúa and Muembe districts.
For now, the company is focused on expanding its market to ensure the absorption of much of the grain that ends up leaving the country clandestinely. To ensure better storage and conservation of those products, they’re using silos from the Mozambique Commodities Exchange.
In Nampula, the beneficiary company is a small agribusiness engaged in the purchase, industrial processing and sale of maize flour and its derivatives. This company proposes to comply with the governmental regulations in the scope of the production of enriched foods based on corn flour and soybean.
The company’s representative, Chissungue Haje António, guarantees that “with the financing, we will boost production through two processing lines, one for the production of fortified maize flour with a capacity of 20 tons per day and another for the production of enriched porridge based on mixed corn and soybean meal, with capacity of 4 tons per day”.
Beyond the funding for commercialization provided by ACLC credit line, the agreement between Mozambique Cereals Institute and Gapi includes technical assistance activities for the establishment and training of operators in agricultural marketing and small and medium-scale agro-processing. These activities benefit from synergies with programs such as ProMer, Agro-Investe, ProSul and others with the participation of Gapi and the support of the Government and partners such as IFAD, ADB and Danida.