CASH CROPS HELP BOOST agriculture

AGRICULTURE IS the mainstay of Mozambique's economy and in many respects is the motor that has driven its robust growth over the past decade. As the World Bank's resident representative in Mozambique, James H. Coates says: "Up to the year 2000, economic growth has been fueled by growth in agriculture and small and medium industry." In fact, agriculture provides a livelihood for 80% of the population.

Nevertheless, this sector's potential remains largely unfulfilled. Of Mozambique's 36 million hectares (about 90 million acres) of arable land, only 15% is under cultivation, and much of that is worked by subsistence farmers. The government is looking for more investment to improve infrastructure and technology and make it accessible to small farmers. "We have to make agriculture more competitive and commercial," says the Minister of Agriculture, Hélder Monteiro Muteia. He sees a major role in this undertaking for private sector investment and is reaching out for foreign cooperation.

Several potential U.S. investors have shown a significant interest in cotton, which Mozambique already exports to the United States, says Mr. Muteia. Mozambique also exports 10,000 tons of sugar each year to the U.S., under the Preferential Trade Agreement. Sugar could be "an extremely lucrative cash crop," although some of Mozambique's mills were damaged in the catastrophic storms and flooding early this year. Mr. Muteia would like to see more markets opened up to Mozambican sugar, pointing out that national producers of cane sugar face "cumbersome regulations" imposed by the World Bank and the IMF although, unlike sugar beet producers in other countries, they do not receive any subsidies.

Mozambique was until recently the world's leading producer of cashews, but the nut is another potentially important cash crop which has seen its prospects reduced by the policies of the international lending institutions. But while encouraging the production of cash crops and trying to open up agricultural export, the government has also been concerned with guaranteeing an adequate food supply domestically.

On balance, Mr. Muteia is pleased with what has been accomplished so far. In recent years "the growth of Mozambique has been based on agriculture," he says, pointing out that there has been 86% growth since 1994. That year, he recalls, Mozambique was producing 500,000 tons of corn, one of three staple crops essential for avoiding famine. "Now we are producing 1.3 million tons.

That speaks for itself, although it's still not enough. The other two crops for food security are manioc (cassava root) and beans, and we must secure all three." There are some three million small landholders, with plots of a half hectare (just over one acre) or less, and their productivity is extremely low. "They have problems with technology and limited access to markets due to lack of infrastructure and credit," Mr. Muteia comments.

Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi is also concerned about small-scale farmers. He would like to create programs to provide them with "new techniques for greater productivity." Gratified by the international response to the floods, Agriculture Minister Muteia hopes to "discuss a common approach with donors in order to cope with possible natural disasters in the future." His ministry plans to prepare for the next crisis before it happens. More than new floods, he fears drought. "Drought is far more treacherous and the consequences for the land are worse," he says. "It is difficult to assess the right moment to intervene, whereas floods are easy to identify and raise the necessary awareness among the international community."