ID :
111229
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 13:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/111229
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Japan, Brazil to jointly help Mozambique develop agriculture
TOKYO, March 11 Kyodo -
Japan and Brazil will jointly provide support for agricultural development in
Mozambique to help ease the problem of poverty in the southern African country,
people familiar with the project said Thursday.
The support will focus on Mozambique's vast tropical savanna, utilizing
experiences from a project that has successfully converted Brazil's ''cerrado''
tropical savanna ecoregion into one of the world's major food-producing areas
thanks to cultivar improvement and other agricultural technologies from Japan,
they said.
Mozambique's tropical savanna is as wide as 550,000 square kilometers, or 1.4
times larger than Japan's land area, and has soil and weather conditions
similar to those of Brazil's cerrado, or ''inaccessible,'' region.
When the United States banned soybean exports in the 1970s, Japan financially
and technologically helped Brazil develop the cerrado for agriculture in a bid
to stabilize the supply of soybeans. As a result, Brazil has become a major
soybean exporter along with the United States.
Under the joint aid program, Brazil will primarily provide Mozambique with
agricultural technologies, while Japan will support infrastructure improvements
such as building a 350-kilometer trunk road that will cut across the tropical
savanna.
Japan signed an agreement with Mozambique on Wednesday to extend up to 5,978
million yen in a low-interest, long-term loan for the infrastructure
improvement project.
Mozambique is one of the world's poorest nations, with per capita gross
domestic product amounting to $477, due to delays in adoption of advanced
foreign technologies and infrastructure improvements for agriculture that
involves some 80 percent of its labor force.
The joint Japan-Brazil support program, which will cover such products as
soybeans, wheat, tomatoes and pumpkins, will not only improve the productivity
of both small- and large-scale farming operations but also introduce foreign
capital to processing operations, a Japan International Cooperation Agency
official said.
==Kyodo
Japan and Brazil will jointly provide support for agricultural development in
Mozambique to help ease the problem of poverty in the southern African country,
people familiar with the project said Thursday.
The support will focus on Mozambique's vast tropical savanna, utilizing
experiences from a project that has successfully converted Brazil's ''cerrado''
tropical savanna ecoregion into one of the world's major food-producing areas
thanks to cultivar improvement and other agricultural technologies from Japan,
they said.
Mozambique's tropical savanna is as wide as 550,000 square kilometers, or 1.4
times larger than Japan's land area, and has soil and weather conditions
similar to those of Brazil's cerrado, or ''inaccessible,'' region.
When the United States banned soybean exports in the 1970s, Japan financially
and technologically helped Brazil develop the cerrado for agriculture in a bid
to stabilize the supply of soybeans. As a result, Brazil has become a major
soybean exporter along with the United States.
Under the joint aid program, Brazil will primarily provide Mozambique with
agricultural technologies, while Japan will support infrastructure improvements
such as building a 350-kilometer trunk road that will cut across the tropical
savanna.
Japan signed an agreement with Mozambique on Wednesday to extend up to 5,978
million yen in a low-interest, long-term loan for the infrastructure
improvement project.
Mozambique is one of the world's poorest nations, with per capita gross
domestic product amounting to $477, due to delays in adoption of advanced
foreign technologies and infrastructure improvements for agriculture that
involves some 80 percent of its labor force.
The joint Japan-Brazil support program, which will cover such products as
soybeans, wheat, tomatoes and pumpkins, will not only improve the productivity
of both small- and large-scale farming operations but also introduce foreign
capital to processing operations, a Japan International Cooperation Agency
official said.
==Kyodo
