The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, (FAO) has launched the Rural Invest initiative in drought-hit Mozambique which urgently need help to plant the next harvest, or else the food crisis gripping the region will continue this year, APA can report on Saturday.
The initiative was launched late on Friday in the capital, by FAO representative in Mozambique Castro Camarada,
“Populations in rural areas of Mozambique have, since today, a tool to support groups with little knowledge of the financial area to prepare investment plans, he said in a statement emailed to APA.
Rural Invest is a free multilingual methodology and toolkit designed to help with the preparation of sustainable agricultural and rural investment projects and business plans.
It is participatory, interactive, bottom-up and decentralized way, involving communities, entrepreneurs, government field technicians, project staff and local financing institutions.
Developed by FAO with the support of national and international development partners, Rural Invest contributes to FAO’s Strategic Objective to enable inclusive and efficient agricultural food systems.
Mozambique’s National Director of Agricultural Extension, Momed Valá, said that the introduction of Rural Invest will raise productivity levels and boost the agricultural market in rural areas,
The southern African nation has been badly affected over the past year by the El Nino weather pattern which has wilted crops, slowing economic growth and driving food prices higher.
Up to 200,000 children will need treatment for severe hunger this year, and 5 million people urgently need aid, according to U.N. figures seen by APA.
Source: Journal du Cameroun
