Business backs agricultural growth corridors in Africa

Zacharia Elises expects to harvest more than five tonnes of maize this season at his 1.5 hectare farm plot in Catandica in Mozambique. This yield level is more than three times the average for the area. Successful investments have been a key support to his accomplishment.

The innovative extension service and marketing company Empresa de Comercialização Agricola (ECA) has provided him with seeds, fertiliser and advice. ECA, one-third owned by local farmers, is one of an economic cluster of related agricultural businesses. These range from seed and feed production to brewing, milling, and pig and poultry farming.

These businesses’ common denominator is financing from the Catalytic Fund. Managed by AgDevCo, the fund was launched in 2010 as part of the Beira Agricultural Growth Corridor. It is backed by international agribusinesses and the governments of Mozambique, Britain, Norway and the Netherlands