The Secretary of State for Agriculture, João Cunha said Thursday in Malanje that the country will decrease the imports of sugar as the Angolan Bio-energy Company (BIOCOM) increases its production.
João Cunha made this statement when opening the harvest of the 2023 agricultural year, at BIOCOM farm, reported that after ten years of existence, BIOCOM currently produces considerable amounts of sugar, which allowed the country to decrease the imports this product by 40 percent and saving considerable money in foreign currency.
He said that one of the indicators of the future increase in sugar production and consequent reduction in imports is the forecasted figure of 120,000 tons of sugar during the harvest of 2023, which also represents a high level of investment and economic development that the country is reaching. The farm reached 110,000 tons in the 2022 harvest.
He stressed that, despite this achievement, there is still much to be done to increase production in the various sectors and that’s why the Executive has been devising various policies, with emphasis on the National Plan for the Promotion of Grain Production (PLANAGRÃO).
He specified that the PLANAGRÃO and other programs of the Executive in the sectors of sugar cane production, livestock and fisheries, were designed with a view to achieving food self-sufficiency in the medium and long term and creating conditions for the export of products and putting an end to the dependency on oil.
“We have arable land, water, favourable climate and other necessary conditions to leverage the agro-industrial sector and walk incisively and decisively in obtaining revenue for the State coffers without depending on the export of oil”, he stressed.
Meanwhile, the general director of BIOCOM, Uirá Ribeiro, said that the farm is currently in a challenging period of production, tending to increase its capacity to reach the needs of the whole country since it is the only company in Angola that produces sugar, ethanol, alcohol and clean energy from sugarcane.
He added that alongside this, it has also been contributing with actions related to the development of the sectors of education, sport, professional training and employment, within the scope of its social responsibility, with emphasis on the local population.
Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)