Panguila - Bananas can and should be an element of the export trade to find other sources of income for the country outside the extractive industry, the provincial governor of Bengo, Maria Antónia Nelumba said Wednesday.
Speaking at the opening of the 10th edition of the National Banana taking place at the Panguila market, the governor said bananas are one of the most important fruits on a global scale in terms of their commercialization in many countries, as well as a complementary food.
The fruit is also of great social and economic importance, serving as a source of income for many families and farmers, generating jobs and development in the regions where it is produced.
The governor took the opportunity to advise the municipal administrations to get involved in paving the roads to the main production centers to enable family farmers to feel encouraged to produce more to improve their incomes.
Maria Nelumba underscored that the improvement of secondary and tertiary routes is considered to be crucial to allow that everything produced can be well taken to the main national markets.
She emphasized that the fair is a gathering of peasant families, cooperatives, farmers, researchers and agronomists who, under the patronage of the Provincial government, are looking for the best ways to increase productivity in sustainable terms, with the aim of placing bananas produced in Bengo at the top with the most advanced planting and distribution techniques.
The Bengo government controls 156 farmers' associations and 187 agricultural cooperatives, most of them made up of former soldiers.
In 2023, the province produced 443 tons of bananas of the most varied species.
The Banana Fair was established by the provincial government of Bengo in 2012 and has been the largest stock exchange in the province. The four-day fair will have the participation of approximately 500 exhibitors from the agricultural, industrial, mining, banking and services sectors, with a turnover expected to be of more than 100 million kwanzas.
CJ/IF/MRA/AMP
