Angola spends US$26 million per month in foreign currencies with the import of 15,000 tonnes of rice from several countries, said on Saturday, in Camacupa, the Secretary of State for the Economy, Mário Caetano Júnior.
The Secretary of State, who concluded a visit to the “Arrozal” farm, located in that municipality 82 kilometres east of the town of Cuito, Bié province, said that the company in question intends to produce exactly the tonnage of grain the country imports every month – 15,000 tonnes of rice.
Caetano Júnior, who spoke within the scope of the provincial meetings focused on understanding local capacity to supply the products in the basic basket in 14 provinces that his ministry is conducting, said work was underway to transform Bié province into one of the storehouses of production in the country.
The director of operations of the farm, Ana Paula Lopes, said on that occasion that 600 of the 750 hectares of rice remain, and that the 150 hectares lost were due to the heavy rainfall in the region in February.
The yield per hectare is estimated at seven tonnes, said the director of operations, adding that the rice produced is being marketed to Angolan wholesalers and to the markets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia, where it is sent via the Benguela Railroad.
Source: Macauhub
