World Bank supports irrigation programme

THE World Bank, as from July this year, will disburse 80 million US dollars, for the “Project for Irrigation and Market Access for Small Farmers” (IRRIGA) in central and northern Mozambique.

Speaking on Tuesday, World Bank senior official Aniceto Bila told reporters that the project will support peasant farmers in the central provinces of Manica, Sofala and Zambezia and the northern province of Nampula.

The money will be disbursed over six years, covering an area of 7,000 hectares and benefitting 14 000 farmers.

Bila was speaking to journalists in the town of Vanduzi, in Manica, during a visit by a World Bank team intended to assess activities undertaken by a predecessor project, the Sustainable Irrigation Development Project (PRIORI), which is due to end in December.

He said the fundamental goal of the IRRIGA project will be supporting the expansion and development of irrigation to increase the production and income of the households covered by the project.

“With the development of irrigation, it is possible to produce all year round, and to increase production”, said Bila. “There are great gains for producers because they cease to depend solely on the rainy season to produce. With climate change, it is important to stimulate production during all seasons of the year”. — AIM.