Facilitating Smallholder Farmers’ Market Access
In the OIC Member Countries
24
Rural poverty declined in
Mozambique from 71 percent in
1996–97 to 57 percent in
2008/09,33 largely because of
growth in the agricultural
sector, but patterns of growth
are mixed. More than half of all
cultivated land is still planted to
low-value maize and cassava to
ensure household food security,
although smallholders diversify
production on their remaining
area with an array of other food
crops. Yields are low and
stagnant, however. Most crops
yield only a small fraction of their potential.34 Agricultural productivity is also affected by
the high rates of malnutrition, HIV-AIDS, and malaria prevalent among rural people.
Climatic extremes are another problem. Smallholders in the Zambezi Valley are
particularly vulnerable to frequent alternating droughts and floods.
Demand and market size
Food crop production is Mozambique’s most important agricultural subsector. The two
most important food crops after cassava and maize are sorghum and rice . Owing
to cassava’s drought tolerance and disease resistance, the crop is a central component of
smallholders’ risk reduction strategy. The traditional cash crop sector includes cotton,
tobacco, cashews, sugarcane, and tea. An estimated 16 percent of rural households engage
in cash crop production. 35 Cashews are primarily a smallholder crop, whereas sugarcane
and tea are plantation crops. Smallholders also grow cotton and tobacco, mostly under
contract farming arrangements.
The composition of agricultural production in Mozambique is changing in significant ways
. In 1990–92, the value of cassava production alone exceeded the combined
value of the next 10 agricultural products. By 2010–12, although cassava remained the
dominant source of farm revenue, growth in revenue from tomatoes, sweet potatoes,
sugarcane, and tobacco far exceeded the growth in revenue from cassava. Maize and
livestock production became more important as well, which reflects the shift occurring in
dietary patterns as incomes rise. On average, about 75 percent of calories consumed per
person still come from cereals and starchy roots and tubers, but per capita consumption of
protein (meat and seafood) is growing faster than consumption of cereals and starches
.
33 World Bank (2014h).
34 World Bank (2006b).
35 World Bank (2006b).
FIGURE 10: MOZAMBIQUE (1999–2000) COMPOSITION OF
NON-ESTATE FARMS BY SIZE
Source: Lowder, Skoet, and Singh 2014.