Maputo — Twenty new tractors will be available through a government scheme during the next harvest in the central Mozambican province of Manica. As a result, the province will have 145 tractors, sixty in the family sector with the rest in the private sector.

According to the daily newspaper “Noticias”, eleven of the tractors have already arrived in Manica, with the rest awaiting transport out of Nacala port.

The Italian government has financed the project.

On 9 January, the Mozambican government's Agricultural Development Fund (FDA) received an Italian donation of 110 tractors with ploughs and trailers. The entire donation is valued at 7.2 million euros (9.4 million US dollars).

The tractors are a key part of the government's agricultural mechanisation programme approved in 2012.

Farmers who are unable to buy their own equipment will be able to hire tractors at an accessible price. They will then be able to increase the area under cultivation, and thereby raise their output.

The government's strategic plan for agriculture seeks to increase production by at least seven per cent a year.