The revenue from exports from the northern Mozambican province of Nampula has more than tripled in the first half of this year.

According to the provincial governor, Victor Borges, in the first six months the value of exports rose to 175 million meticais (about 2.5 million US dollars, at current exchange rates) compared with just 53 million meticais in the same period last year.

The information was given during a meeting on Monday between the provincial government and the parliamentary commission on agriculture, the economy, and the environment that is visiting Nampula to inspect the implementation of the government’s five-year plan.

Borges said that the main export was agricultural produce such as beans destined for India. He added that there was a lot of competition for agricultural produce, with a large amount of maize being transported to the centre and south of Mozambique where there are shortages.

The governor pointed out that the price of agricultural goods has shot through the roof, with beans selling for 50 meticais per kilo and maize for 20 meticais per kilo. He estimated that the total amount of produce sold will increase to 2.9 million tonnes compared with 1.1 million tonnes last year.

The parliamentary commission has warned that the high price of maize could lead to small-scale farmers being obliged to sell all of their stocks, leaving pockets of hunger in the province.

Source: AllAfrica