Agricultural productivity in Mozambique is lowest in southern Africa, with tiny use of any
modern technology - improved seeds, fertiliser, extension services, animal traction or irrigation –
according to a recent report in Noticias (4 Nov 2011). This is underlined by new data in the
Agriculture Census (Censo Agro-Pecuario 2009-2010) published 22 November.
This data was partly behind the radical changes in policy set out in the Agriculture Development
Plan 2011-2020 (Plano Estratégico de Desenvolvimento do Sector Agrário - PEDSA), agreed
earlier this year and now posted on the Ministry of Agriculture website
http://www.minag.gov.mz/images/stories/pdf_files/pedsa/pedsafinal.pdf
Mozambique's failure to develop agriculture results from two decades of policies imposed by the
World Bank and donors, which said Mozambique should be the only country in the world to have
the private sector and "free market" develop agriculture with no support from government – no
subsidies or special credits, no marketing boards, no government extension services, and no
government research and seed development. The new agriculture plan reverses some of the failed
imposed policies, and finally rejects donor demands of "do as we say, not as we do", thus
accepting that farm policies followed in Europe and the US make some sense,
MOZAMBIQUE 188 - News reports & clippings – 25 November 2011- 2
The government-owned daily Notici
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