Nyusi launches integrated rural development

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi declared on Friday that “Sustenta” (Sustain”), the government’s integrated agriculture and natural resource project, is unequivocal proof that rural development is at the centre of the government’s activity.Speaking in Ribaue district, in the northern province of Nampula, at the official launch of “Sustenta”, Nyusi stressed that his government is committed to creating equal opportunities for all Mozambicans.Budgeted at the equivalent of 231 million US dollars, “Sustenta” is financed by the World Bank.“Our common dream of gradually creating equal opportunities for all Mozambicans is becoming a reality”, said the President. “We are placing the rural areas as the starting point and the destination for the development of all of Mozambique”.He stressed that change produces results which are only consolidated over time. “Today we are facing a change in the way we look at rural development, introducing an integrated model which brings together peasant farmers, the private sector and the banks”, said Nyusi.“Starting from the rural areas we want to produce commercial farmers for Mozambique – those who are going to develop our country. We want to create a middle class based on the countryside”, he added.

Nyusi said “Sustenta” does not replace existing programmes such as the District Development Fund (FDD), or the National Agricultural Development Programme (ProAgri). “Sustenta” was being created “to strengthen the will to speed up rural development”.

One of the specificities of the new project is the access to financial services that will be granted to peasant farmers, small scale emerging commercial farmers and small and medium agricultural companies.Nyusi said that access to finance is a fundamental factor for development. “Naturally the criteria will be well established and strictly applied”, he promised.The World Bank Director for Mozambique, Mark Lundell, said the Bank has followed the experiences of other countries who have managed to improve the living conditions of the rural population through good management of natural resources.The dream of reducing rural poverty and improving the environment can only be achieved by the government adopting a coherent and long term strategy, he added.“This transformation cannot be achieved from one day to the next”, said Lundell. “But counties such as Brazil and China show that it is possible”.“Sustenta” will have a direct impact on the lives of over 125,000 rural households (over 700,000 people) who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. “It’s still not very much, but we have to start somewhere”, said Nyusi.