Lack of specialized knowledge is a “serious obstacle” in the Angolan agricultural sector

Angolan agricultural operators’ lack of specialized knowledge represents a “serious obstacle” to the sector’s development, which employs 88,000 workers, 79% of whom “do not have any training in the area,” an association source announced today.

According to the president of AAPA-Agropecuária de Angola, Wanderley Ribeiro, who was speaking on the second and last day of the Angola-France Business Forum in Luanda, the lack of specialized knowledge is one of the “weaknesses” of the sector.

“We believe that the challenges are identified, we know our strengths and weaknesses, and we are aware that it will also be through collaboration with our [French] partners that we will more easily overcome the challenges along the way,” he said.

Wanderley Ribeiro, who spoke at the forum’s closing ceremony, which French President Emmanuel Mácron attended, considered that knowledge should be seen as the “foundation and fundament” for the maxim of the first Angolan President, Agostinho Neto.

“Agriculture is the base and industry the decisive factor.”

In this meeting that joined dozens of French and Angolan businesspeople in the agricultural sector, he said that of the 365.000 students in the Angolan higher education system, only 18.000 are graduating in the agricultural sector.

“This is a representation of less than 5%, a self-explanatory indicator of the path we still have to travel in this area, especially since it is a strategic area for the country,” he noted.

Technical and scientific knowledge is currently configured in Angola “as the most important input for all the crops we have ahead of us,” he pointed out.

The president of AAPA also expressed satisfaction with the development of cooperation agreements underway between the Agro Institute of Montpellier in France and the José Eduardo dos Santos University in the Angolan province of Huambo, and with the methodological innovation of the Commercial Agriculture Development Program, co-financed by the French Development Agency and the World Bank.

According to the association leader, the provision of technology is another key factor for the success of agribusiness, both in terms of increased productivity, genetic quality, and efficiency gains.

“We highly appreciate the experience and the different technologies represented by the French companies present in this forum, which will naturally allow us to save precious time in our journey towards the development of agriculture and cattle-raising in Angola,” he emphasized.

He also expressed the availability of Angolan businessmen to explore the various opportunities presented by French companies at this meeting, emphasizing milk production.

Milk production “is configured in one of the objective opportunities, with at least one case of success in Angola using French genetics.”

AAPA also wants to count on the presence of French entrepreneurs in the professional qualification of family agriculture, “which represents about 89% of Angolan production” and is characterized by the grouping of cooperatives and associations.

Adopting a professional management model for cooperatives will represent an important milestone in gaining efficiency and formalizing family agriculture in Angola.

A memorandum of understanding between AAPA and its French counterpart Medefi (International French  Enterprise Movement) was initialed at this forum, aimed at developing new partnerships between the French and Angolan private sectors in the production of cassava, corn, soybeans, cotton, cereals, peanuts, coffee, fruits, and others.

With information from Sapo

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