1 May 2008
Maputo — Mozambique hopes to cope with rising international oil and food prices through increased agricultural production, declared the Minister of Planning and Development, Aiuba Cuereneia, on Wednesday.
Speaking at the end of the Joint Review of progress in 2007 between the government and the "Programme Aid Partners" (the group of 19 donors and funding agencies who provide direct support to the state budget), Cuereneia recognised that high oil and food prices were likely "to worsen the situation of natural disasters that we have been subject to, year after year".
To face this scenario "the government has been implementing programmes to re-launch agricultural production and productivity, particularly of basic foodstuffs", said the Minister. Such measures were a key part of the government's strategy for a "Green Revolution" in Mozambique.
Cuereneia thought the debate in the Joint Review of the performance, both of the government and of the donors, had been "frank and open". Consensus had been achieved "on the progress made and the matters which still need improvement".
"We have had a productive Joint Review that not only assessed the past, but has created a solid basis for further positive developments in the various spheres of government activity in the future", he said. "The consensus achieved represents the commitment of both the government and its partners to deepen their dialogue in favour of the development of the country".
Cuereneia recognised the efforts of the donors "to align and harmonise" their assistance in order "to improve the effectiveness of foreign aid so that it may contribute to reducing poverty and increasing the well-being of the Mozambican population".
Nonetheless, he not only urged an increase in resources made available to the state budget, but also called for "greater regularity and predictability over the medium and long term" of all forms of foreign aid. This would make possible "more effective, efficient and coherent planning and budgeting".
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