Teaching a young person to grow crops is no longer enough, says the Young Farmers Association of Portugal, known as AJAP, which wants to turn Mozambique’s Tete Province into a training ground for rural entrepreneurs.
AJAP has announced plans for an agricultural incubator in Tete to train young entrepreneurs and reduce import dependency. AJAP Director General Firmino Cordeiro, speaking as a panellist at the Tete International Investment Conference 2026, invited local partners to join and asked immediately for local government support to boost youth agricultural capacity.
“Our purpose in this partnership between AJAP and other entities is to challenge the Zambezi Valley Development Agency and the Tete Young Farmers Association to join us as partners in this incubator we intend to launch in Tete,” said Cordeiro.
He argued for targeted support to family farming in Mozambique, pointing to its capacity to improve household food security, supply local and regional markets, drive socio economic development, raise incomes, generate employment and build climate and environmental resilience. “Agriculture must evolve from a survival concept into an economically viable, professionalised, market-linked activity,” said Cordeiro
In addition, Cordeiro said technical knowledge should be the priority, to ensure optimised land use and soil conservation and to combat crop pests and diseases. In a country with the natural endowment for mechanised agriculture, he said, vocational training is urgent, alongside local partnerships to process raw materials domestically, develop national industry, replace imports and curb food insecurity.
He noted, “Agricultural vocational training cannot be limited to teaching production techniques. It is essential to train farmers capable of managing commercial enterprises.” Farmers also need to understand production costs, credit and insurance and how to negotiate with suppliers and buyers. “Farmers must understand international compliance and quality certification standards. International clients demand certification and product standard compliance so that exported goods can gain acceptance in foreign markets,” added Cordeiro.
According to AJAP, Mozambique must also focus on feeding itself, because only by addressing local hunger can the country build effective export strategies. He stated, “While exports are taking place, domestic production for local consumption continues to face pressure. Therefore, we must advance both models in parallel, without ever losing sight of food self-sufficiency which is critical for remote communities to achieve self-reliance and commercialise surplus yield.”
AJAP is part of a wider initiative with local business leaders and associations to establish 20 agricultural incubators across Mozambique by 2030. Cordeiro said that once the network is fully operational it should be able to certify more than one thousand young agricultural and rural entrepreneurs a year. “It is not enough to train youth to work in agriculture; we must create the conditions for them to become agribusiness entrepreneurs,” concluded Cordeiro. AJAP is a nonprofit organisation that for more than two decades has supported the internationalisation of the Portuguese agrifood sector and strengthened bilateral cooperation between Portugal and Mozambique.
