Moçâmedes - The Namibe government intends to increase its influence in the domestic production and commercialization of tomatoes in the coming two years, which currently account for 60 percent of the national output, the province’s governor Archer Mangueira said Sunday.
Presenting the memorandum on the province's economic and social development to President João Lourenço, the governor said Namibe province currently supplies the country with 60 percent of the tomatoes produced locally.
"We already guarantee the supply of tomatoes at national level, but we need this production and commercialization to be at competitive prices. To that end, we need to make the inputs much more competitively priced too," Mangueira said.
In Namibe, tomatoes are produced on a large scale in the municipality of Moçâmedes, more precisely in Lucira commune.
Every week, more than 50 trucks loaded with 200 boxes of tomatoes are transported to various commercial points such as Luanda, Huíla, Benguela, Uíge, Moxico, Malange and Cunene.
The governor cited some challenges for the agricultural and livestock sector, in order to prevent the effects of drought in the province, underlining the implementation of central projects, such as the Carujamba, Giraul and Inamangando dams.
Another focus, the governor said, is the construction of water retention dams in the Bero and Curoca river valleys, the recovery of 43 small sluices in the municipalities of Bibala and Camucuio and Virei. FA/MS/TED/AMP
