Speeches Shim
U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique, Mr. Dean Pittman, visited Sofala Province from 16th to 18th of May 2017 to meet officials and survey US assistance to the Province. US Agency for International Development (USAID) officials, Alonzo Wind, USAID Southern Africa Acting Mission Director, and Theodora Dell, USAID Mozambique Acting Deputy Director accompanied the Ambassador as part of the U.S. delegation.
Mozambique’s agricultural sector comprises an overwhelming majority of smallholder farmers. About 70 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture, which serves as the main economic sector in Mozambique (24 percent of GDP). Only 16 percent of the country’s 36 million hectares of arable land is currently under cultivation. In addition, due to obstacles such as lack of access to financing, markets and quality inputs, productivity of small-holder, family-based agriculture is very low. Agricultural development is the key to reducing poverty. USAID agriculture focused programs use a value chain approach to strengthen the agribusiness sector through improved linkages between smallholder farmers and large commercial agribusinesses, processors, and traders. Productivity, processing, and marketing of staple agricultural commodities are expanded by enhancing access to finance, forging public-private partnerships, providing business development services, and improving the business-enabling environment.
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