The province of Manica witnessed on Wednesday (22) an injection of 63 million meticais – about one million dollars – into its agricultural productive fabric. The sum was distributed by the non-governmental organisation Mangwana, which handed over cheques to 17 commercial agricultural Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and 207 smallholders in the region, in an economic boost intended to foster sustainable agricultural production and strengthen the value chain along the Beira corridor.
The funding, with cheques ranging from 1,800,000 to 10.2 million meticais, was awarded under the Grant Fund of the Mangwana programme, launched in 2024 with the aim of promoting inclusive growth in agribusiness. The district of Báruè stands out among the beneficiaries, with 17 producers supported.
According to Augusto Jaime, director of the Mangwana programme, the support focuses on cash crops geared to marketing and rests on three pillars: assistance to smallholders, private sector development and improvement of the business environment.
Jaime explained that the investments vary according to each beneficiary’s needs. For smallholders, the maximum ceiling of support is 210,000 meticais, mostly spent on purchasing motor pumps, piping and water tanks – equipment essential for tackling the challenges of climate change. For producers and SMEs, support can amount to 2.1 million meticais.
The selection of beneficiaries resulted from a competitive process begun in 2024, with 175 applications submitted: 139 for the growth fund and 36 for inclusive businesses. An investment committee, made up of members from the public and private sectors, approved the 17 company proposals and the 207 individual producers now funded.
The initiative has the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and of a consortium led by TechnoServe, which also includes Resilience, the Zambezi Valley Development Agency and the Manica Development Agency (ADEM). The Zambezi Valley’s Director of Technical and Financial Assistance, Nelson António, highlighted the central role of the private sector in generating income along the Beira corridor.
During the handover ceremony, held in the town of Catandica, Báruè district, the provincial governor, Francisca Tomás, thanked the Mangwana consortium and highlighted that the equipment will directly benefit producers in the districts of Chimoio, Manica, Vanduzi, Sussundenga, Gondola, Báruè and Macate. She also stressed that the best way to repay the support is with a firm commitment to sustainable and resilient agricultural production.
Tomás called for better coordination among players in the agricultural sector, so as to avoid overlapping support and ensure that a greater number of producers have access to the available resources. She also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to continue mobilising support for the sector, with a view to increasing agricultural competitiveness at regional and international level.
The close of this first phase of the programme marks the start of preparations for the second funding window, which is expected to reach an even wider range of producers and businesses, and promises to create more than a thousand new jobs, raising Manica’s agricultural potential to new levels.
