Rural Invest supports groups with limited financial literacy

26 May, Maputo- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held a meeting to present Rural Invest, a tool to support groups with limited financial literacy to prepare bankable investment plans.

During the meeting was also be presented the e-Voucher system, a subsidy transfer mechanism for agricultural inputs, used by FAO programme to achieve the Millennium Development Goals MDG1c.

The event was attended by several government entities and bank branches.

Speaking at the opening of the event, FAO Representative Castro Camarada said that "these two tools have great potential for application in Mozambique, aiming for greater investments in the rural environment, productivity increases, greater market insertion and better income for families and poverty reduction. This tool will begin to be used within the framework of a Government project".

Rouja Johnstone, FAO specialist for Rural Invest, explained that "this application enables investments with less costs and that farmers will be able to return the value of credits offered by the programmes more easily".

Rural Invest, developed by FAO, is an approach that facilitates sustainable rural investments that has already been used in several countries and is currently being introduced in Mozambique.

The e-voucher is a flexible mechanism for the transfer of subsidies for the purchase of agricultural inputs that is being implemented in the provinces of Manica, Sofala, Nampula and Zambézia by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security with FAO technical assistance and financial support from the European Union.