Cuito - Rice producers in Cuemba municipality, 164 kilometres east of Cuito, in Bié province, have since Saturday had a mini-factory for husking the grain, acquired by the municipal administration, as part of the Integrated Programme for Local Development and Poverty Alleviation (PIDLCP).
The investment, which was inaugurated by provincial governor, Pereira Alfredo, cost around 9.75 million kwanzas,
The mini-factory has a capacity to prepare daily more than one ton of the referred cereal.
In Bié province, rice is traditionally grown in the municipalities of Camacupa, Chinguar and Cuemba, where it is expected to produce 280,000 tons of rice per year, in Canvongue, by the "Cuemba rice farming cooperative" and other small producers.
The municipal administrator of Cuemba, João Baptista Mário, encouraged producers to increase productivity, as he considered the agriculture sector, particularly rice production, a lever for development and welfare of the population.
Corinto Costa Sawanga, a traditional authority from Carienta neighbourhood and also a small rice producer, said that even with the new husking the farmers still need support in production tools, fertilisers and above all bank credit, in order to strengthen the sector in the municipality.
