Samba Lucala – With the aim to improve the military personnel's diet and food security, the Social Security Institute of the Angolan Armed Forces (ISSFAA) will be investing in cattle breeding this year.
The first breeding stock will come from South Africa, according to the head of the institution's investment Centre, Fábio Belo.
The official was speaking to the press on Wednesday about the ceremony to formally sign the deeds transferring management of the Samba Lucala Farm from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to the Ministry of National Defence and Veterans of the Homeland.
Taking into account climate conditions, he said that Samba Lucala Farm will be the first one to benefit from the project which aims to include this kind of production in the business plan of the ISSFAA.
Given the climatic conditions, he said that the Samba Lucala farm will be the first to benefit from the project, which aims to include this type of production in the ISSFAA's business plan.
He indicated that the intention is to create a production chain that will contribute to the sustainability of the institution in the future.
“At the moment, we are starting to prepare animal production projects so that we can also move into livestock farming, properly speaking, in the production of cattle, sheep, pigs and goats,’ he said.
According to Fábio Belo, in addition to feeding the troops, surplus production, both agricultural and meat, will be turned over to the market, in a process in which production will be ensured by former and demobilised FAA soldiers.
He explained that these actions are in line with the Angolan Government's objectives, set out in the National Development Plan 2023/2027.
Fazenda Samba Lucala is the largest large-scale maize and soya production project in Cuanza Norte province.
The infrastructure, with more than three hectares of gross area, had a public investment of USD 54.6 million and has a production capacity of 30,000 tonnes/year of soya, beans and maize.
In Cuanza-Norte, the FAA is also going to invest in poultry farming, in 20 units with the capacity to raise 3,000 chicks each.
In addition to Samba Lucala, the FAA's Social Security Institute already has two large farms in production in the country, in the provinces of Bié and Cunene.
In Bié, the farm has 1,70 hectares of maize planted and being harvested in the current agricultural campaign and 1,500 hectares of wheat to be planted.
In Cunene, 200 hectares of beans and 600 hectares of rice have been planted and are being harvested this year.
The FAA's Social Security Institute has more than 80,000 beneficiaries, including former military personnel, demobilised soldiers, widows and orphans.
EFM/IMA/IZ/MRA/jmc
