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Menongue — Farming families in south-east Cuando Cubango province received 5,395 different seedlings in 2022, the Forestry Development Institute (IDF) has announced.

IDF said the move is meant to encourage the planting of fruit trees in the region.

Speaking to the press, the head of IDF department in Cuando Cubango, Domingos Afonso Ndedika, assured that the batch distributed to the peasants comes from the 2021 stock.

In 2022, the sector produced 2,225 seedlings, out of the 3,000 planned, including avocado, mango and other ornamental species, which will be distributed to farming families and municipal administrations, he said.

Domingos Ndedika indicated that in 2022, 9,833 cubic meters of wood were exploited by public and private companies, quantities that were destined for the country’s capital.

He said that for the interprovincial transport of said wood, with emphasis on the sunflower type, 170 guides and certificates of origin have been issued.

The source added lack of technicians and protection hinders the process of seedling multiplication, mainly in the two nurseries designed to produce more than 50,000 seedlings per year.

The province of Cuando Cubango, located in the southeast of the country, has an area of 199,049 square kilometers, an estimated population of more than 700,000 inhabitants, distributed in nine municipalities and 32 communes.