International mission trains Angolan technicians for irrigated agriculture

A Brazilian delegation made up of technicians from the São Francisco and Parnaíba Valleys Development Company (Codevasf) participates, this July, in the international cooperation mission in Angola to train Angolan technicians and disseminate experiences in promoting regional development through irrigated and rainfed agriculture. The initiative is part of the technical cooperation program “Development of irrigated regions and policies to support family farming” in Angola, in the Cunene River Valley, coordinated by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Twelve Angolan technicians will be trained by Codevasf technicians to gain knowledge in the areas of topography, pedology and drainage. According to the coordinator of the Codevasf mission, Samuth Duarte, taking the Brazilian experience to Angola is essential for irrigated agriculture to be developed in the Cunene River Valley region. “The characteristics of the soil and climate of the Cunene Valley are similar to those of the Brazilian semi-arid region. The idea is for Angolans to be able to develop irrigated agriculture locally to improve the quality of life of the region's population,” he says.

“Codevasf was invited to share its successful experiences in irrigated agriculture and to assist Angolan technicians in developing a management plan for the Cafu canal. This Angolan province suffers from drought and has a canal, recently built with the aim of making water available for human and animal consumption and agricultural production”, explains the director of the Company's Irrigation and Operations Area, Luís Napoleão Casado. The Cafu Canal was opened in April 2022 with the aim of combating the cyclical drought in the province.

During the mission, meetings were held with the government of the province of Cunene and reconnaissance visits to the Cafu Canal area. The objective of the visits was to observe the characteristics of the region’s soil. The inspection was divided into two parts. The first was done at the pumping station. Next, the section referring to the first batch of the canal was covered, which runs from the community of Cafu to Cuamato, measuring approximately 47 km. The second stage included the recognition of the East and West sections, 56 km and 55 km respectively. 

Since arriving in Angola, the Codevasf technical team has visited the laboratory of the Angola Agricultural Research Institute (IAA), where the soil samples will be analyzed. The team participated in a meeting with the governor of Huambo, Lotti Nolika, and with representatives from the Brazilian embassy in Angola and the Angola Institute of Agriculture. Governor Lotti Nolika recognized the importance of the work that will be carried out for the country.

Codevasf technicians also met with the vice-governor for Technical Services and Infrastructures of the province of Cunene, António Gilberto Augusto Matias, and other authorities to explain the objective of the mission in the Cafu Canal, in Cunene, and the importance of the surveys pedological and topographical aspects for the development of irrigated agriculture in the region.