Creates Cotton and Oilseeds Institute

 Council of Ministers this Tuesday approved the creation of a new Institute of Cotton and Oilseeds to replace the old Mozambique Cotton Institute (IAM), and the creation of the Mozambique Institute of Nuts [Instituto de Amêndoas de Moçambique] to replace the Institute for the Promotion of Cashew (INCAJU).

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Celso Correia said that the measures would encourage production of these crops.

“This decision aims to create specialty and strategic guidance for our governmental structure so that, in the next two years, Mozambique can return to producing cooking oil in a structured manner through the national production of these crops. The constitution and transformation of the Institute for the Promotion of Cashew into the Institute of Nuts was also approved in this session , expanding the spectrum of action of the institute to other nuts, with particular emphasis on the macadamia, which has been gaining traction and will hopefully represent a strategic gain for the country. It should be noted that Mozambique currently imports US$150 million of cooking oil, and the regional market is worth a billion dollars. It is our goal for Mozambique to look at other nuts, and introduce the macadamia as a family culture, generating greater income. The global nut market is worth around US$92 billion, and Mozambique has been exploring its fringes with the cashew,” Minister Correia said. The cabinet on Tuesday also approved a decree on the continued disbursement of subsidies to the victims of the Hulene dump landslide in Maputo.