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Mozambique: Govt And Japan Discusss Food Aid
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
14 February 2008
Posted to the web 14 February 2008
Maputo
Food aid from the Japanese government to Mozambique for this year is dependent on the results from the use of about two million US dollars disbursed by Japan last September.
This sum was granted for the Mozambican government to purchase 3,000 tonnes of rice. This was commercial food aid - that is, it was not to be distributed free of charge, but sold through the commercial networks in the north of the country.
This was part of a Japanese food aid programme known as KRI 2006. According to the charge d'affaires at the Japanese embassy, Kenichi Kinya, future food aid will depend on how the Mozambican government implemented KRI 2006.
Representatives of the Mozambican and Japanese governments discussed food aid at a meeting in Maputo on Wednesday, aimed essentially at discussing how the two million dollars donated last year had been spent.
"This is a joint programme between the Mozambican and Japanese governments to provide food aid for the northern zone", said Kinya. "Support for this year will depend on the effectiveness with which the government implemented the programme in 2007".
According to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ana Raquel, to ensure effective distribution of the 3,000 tonnes of rice purchased, the government launched a public tender. Ten of the commercial companies that submitted bids were selected to sell the rice in the northern provinces.
Raquel added that when the rice was unloaded it was found that over 80 tonnes was missing. The company from whom the rice was purchased promised to make good this shortfall.
Raquel said the Japanese aid had an important impact on food security, on the development of small and medium commercial companies, and in saving the country foreign exchange that it would otherwise have spent on importing rice.
But the most important aspect, in her view, was the contribution of the food aid to the fight against absolute poverty through the use of the counterpart funds in local currency, generated by the sale of the rice, in social and economic development projects.
Her ministry, she said, has now submitted a project, budgeted at two million dollars for the rehabilitation of the rural trading network.
Raquel said Mozambique hoped that Japan would continue its support until the country achieved self-sufficiency in agricultural production.
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The meeting was also attended by officials from the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Mozambique.
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| Copyright © 2008 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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