Incatema supports Angola’s farmers and SMEs to enhance their production activities

14 January, 2021

Incatema Consulting & Engineering continues to provide at a good pace the Technical Assistance Services for the development and implementation of business plans for Angolan agrifood producers and SMEs, as part of the Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP), whose purpose is to foster agricultural development in Angola by encouraging local production of quality foods, improving food safety, and reducing imports and the dependence on abroad.

In the last 6 months, the CADP Technical Assistance Project in the provinces of Malanje and has been centred on the preparation of business plans, training of producers, supporting the Project in negotiations with banks to facilitate access to credit and introducing the concept of production alliances among the local business community.

The business plan, a tool for improving competitiveness

This technical assistance provides the producer with a medium and long term vision thanks to a permanent monitoring of the investment . Thus, the business plan acts as a tool to help the producer to understand the following steps. The aim is to improve their level of competitiveness, income and profitability of the farming activity. For Luciano Palmitesta, team leader of Incatema Consulting & Engineering, this project faces a significant challenge related to cultural resistance.

“Producers tend to be accustomed to thinking that they can manage their business on their own following traditional methods. Many do not value the specialised work of an agricultural technician. We need to leave this cultural mindset behind by clearly demonstrating that a change in attitude generates advantages and that accepting the support of professionals will enormously enhance their competitive level. The producers who have been selected need to be aware that they will be the project leaders in the field of commercial agriculture”.

Rural Invest, a tool for measuring the project’s profitability

For execution of this commercial agriculture project, Incatema Consulting & Engineering uses the “Rural Invest” tool developed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. This tool makes it possible to measure the profitability of each new project and has extensively demonstrated its efficiency and functionality in the preparation of business plans in various points around the world. It has the advantage of being adaptable to small and large producers in the farming sector. “Rural Invest provides qualitative data regarding labour conditions, the situation of the entrepreneur, the idea of the project, the producer’s potential and economic and financial analysis. This makes it possible to identify revenues, investment costs and production costs”, points out Palmitesta.