AGRICULTURAL POLICY
The agricultural practise currently in use in Coutada 5
for the production of crops, namely swidden or
slash-and-burn cultivation, is both ecologically
destructive and non-sustainable in the long term. The
crop production is, due to poor quality seeds being used
and infertile soils, very low and cannot even guarantee
adequate subsistence to the farmers and their families.
Africa Futura Wildlife Restoration Lda will gradually
introduce the smallholder farmers to modern agricultural
production techniques such as permaculture. They will be
properly trained in this new venture. This will lead to
increased production, lower negative ecological impacts,
better equipped and trained farmers and hopefully excess
production that can be sold elsewhere.
In addition to increased crop production, a sizeable
area to the east of the EN1 main road has been zoned for
extensive livestock ranching purposes. This zone will
link up with the existing livestock ranching enterprises
more towards the east coast, and will probably be made
available to interested investors. The size of the units
will be 5 000 ha each. These extensive livestock
ranching ventures should be easy to establish, since no
problems with the supply of suitable cattle breeds will
be experienced. As such the agricultural ventures should
make a meaningful socio-economic contribution to the
region, some years before the planned wildlife blocks
come into production.’
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