A Mozambican company is implementing in the north of Mozambique a sea cucumber production project aimed at consumption by local communities and focused on the inclusion of women, in Nampula province.
“In the pilot phase, the company aims to strengthen the holothurian [sea cucumber] value chain and contribute to sustainable livelihoods in coastal communities, with a focus on the inclusion of women”, states a note from the Blue Economy Development Fund (ProAzul), adding that it is an investment of 60 million meticais (800,000 euros).
The project, by the company Aquapesca, is also funded by the programme called MaisPeixe Sustentável, of the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries.
The Secretary of State for the Sea and Fisheries, Momade Juízo, stressed that sea cucumbers are easy to produce, fetching, per kilo, about 14,000 meticais (190 euros) on the European market.
“It is indeed encouraging to have a project with a strong component of support for local communities”, he added.
According to Aquapesca’s director-general, François Grosse, the company has the installed capacity to produce 1.5 tonnes of sea cucumbers a year and, in a “commercial approach to local benefit”, supply raw material to community projects, especially in the provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country.
