A delegation comprising nine executive directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), representing 45 of the financial institution’s 81 shareholders, conducted a two-day working visit (8-9 March 2023) in the province of Cabinda, Angola, to determine the degree of implementation of the Agricultural Value Chain Development Project in the region.

The team, led by Pietro Toígo, AfDB’s resident representative in Angola, visited the Pint Research and Production Center in the town of São Vicente, the ALED farm and held a meeting with some beneficiaries of chicks, goat and sheep in the village of Tali-Sumbe, to assess the impact of the work in progress.

The total funding of the Project is about USD123 million, with the AfDB providing USD 101 million, the Angolan Government investing USD 20 million while the beneficiaries invest USD 2 million.

The framework of the Infrastructure Component includes 162 km of roads to the 4 municipalities, to support the supply of agricultural products, as well as the training of the Cabinda Water Company, aiming to improve the supply of this precious liquid, among other actions.

One of the bank’s executive directors, Gerardo Bussier, described the assessment visit as ” a positive one” and stressed that the Bank will continue to work with the government and the implementing partners for the good of the populace, supporting small and medium-sized producers, based on the Farmer Field Schools, which implement the deployment of new agricultural technologies for improved productivity in the province.

The Bank’s team of Executive Directors assessed the current state of implementation and evaluated opportunities and possibilities for new funding and replication of the successful CPAVCDP to other provinces in Angola. The assessment included a visit to the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) office and a courtesy visit to the Province Governor’s office.

During the meeting with the PIU office in Cabinda, the EDs expressed satisfaction with the current state of implementation and TAAT’s swift mobilisation to project site in the province following the signing of the agreement mid-January 2023. The visit according to the team leader, “reinforced their confidence in the TAAT’s capacity and commitment to scaling up proven technologies across Africa.”

During the visit, the team were exposed to activities implemented by the PIU in the Cabinda Municipality. These include the Apolónia chickens farm, where the PIU in partnership with the private sector is developing the poultry value chain through the introduction of resilient and multipurpose “bushveld” chickens’.

With Apolónia, the PIU has installed an incubation house with the capacity to grow 25,000 to 50,000 chickens that are distributed 10 to 20 chickens to smallholder farmer households in the four Municipalities of Cabinda. They also visited a group of farmers who received chickens and some goats. The farmers showcased groundnuts produced from the seeds distributed by the project while women who benefited from the CPAVCDP credit scheme to start a fishing business equally presented proceeds from the project’s intervention.

The assessment team was received by the Vice Governor for the Economic Sector, Macario Lembe, represented by the Provincial Governor of Cabinda, Mara Quiosa, and Carlos Malita, the TAAT representative in the CPAVCDP Project.