The World Bank will contribute US$80 million to the Irrigation and Market Access Project for Farmers (Irriga), starting in July in central and northern Mozambique, a representative of the institution announced.
“With the development of irrigation, producers are no longer dependent on the rainy season to produce,” and with climate change, “it is important to stimulate production in all seasons,” said World Bank official Aniceto Bila, on a visit to the centre of the country, quoted by Mozambican state news agency AIM.
The amount will be disbursed over six years and is expected to cover an area of 7,000 hectares and to benefit 14,000 farmers to support the expansion and development of irrigation to increase production and income of the families covered by the project.
Bila was speaking during a visit to Vanduzi, Manica province, to evaluate another initiative, in the same area, the Sustainable Irrigation Development Project (Proirri), which allowed for the cultivation of 2,500 hectares of land in seven years.
The first phase of this initiative runs until December, aiming to reach 3,000 hectares of land.
Proirri is budgeted at US$74.25 million, financed 80% by the World Bank, the remainder being donated by the government of Japan.
