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Geography, agriculture and the economy Geography The Republic of Angola covers an area of 1,247,000 km2 and is situated on the Atlantic coast of western Africa, bordering Namibia to the south, Zambia to the east and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north and east. To the north, separated from the rest of the country by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies Angola’s enclave province of Cabinda. The country is made up of a narrow coastal plain rising steeply to a large plateau area that occupies 60 per cent of national territory. The north has a cool, dry season and a hot, rainy season. While the coastal areas are humid and tropical, in the central highlands temperatures are more moderate and rainfall is reasonably abundant. Soon after Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975, a civil conflict engulfed the country, continuing for three decades with a brief interruption from 1994 to 1998. A ceasefire went into effect in 2002 and the war ended. It is estimated that as many as 1.5 million people lost their lives during the conflict, and some 4 million were displaced. As a result of the drawn-out civil war, there is no accurate recent data on population in Angola. The population is estimated to be about 16.5 million and is presently growing at an approximate annual rate of 2.9 per cent. Three ethnic groups predominate: the Ovimbundu, the largest group, and the Kimbundu and the Bakongo. The war left Angola severely devastated and with high poverty levels, especially in rural areas. Most social and economic infrastructure had been damaged or destroyed. Angola has now begun the processes of reconstruction and reconciliation and a return to more balanced economic growth. Agriculture Angola is a potentially rich agricultural country, with fertile soils, a favourable climate, and about 57.4 million ha of agricultural land, including more than 5.0 million ha of arable land. Before gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, Angola had a flourishing tradition of family-based farming and was self-sufficient in all major food crops except wheat. The country exported coffee and maize, as well as crops such as sisal, bananas, tobacco and cassava. By the 1990s Angola was producing less than 1 per cent of the volume of coffee it had produced in the early 1970s, while production of cotton, tobacco and sugar cane had ceased almost entirely. Poor global market prices and lack of investment have severely limited the sector. The civil war and the consequent deterioration of the rural economy and neglect of the farming sector dealt the final blow to the country’s agricultural productivity. Most small-scale farmers have reverted to subsistence farming. Angola has been dependent on commercial imports since 1977 and was heavily dependent up to the end of the war. The return to productivity in rural areas is proving difficult and slow. Large areas remain uncultivable because of the presence of landmines. Functioning infrastructure in rural areas is limited, and there are few incentives for people to return to farming. After the war, from 2003 to 2004 only 2.9 million ha of the available agricultural land was cultivated. Agriculture’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) – including forestry and fisheries – has been about 8 per cent. Yet two thirds of the population still depend on agriculture for food, income and employment. About 80 per cent of farmers throughout the country are smallholders. They cultivate very small plots of land, with very low productivity. With 1,650 km of coastline, Angola also has abundant sea resources, and there is good potential to develop marine fishing in the country, producing for both domestic use and export. The sector has declined dramatically as a result of the civil war and is now recovering slowly as people return to rural areas. Angola also has extensive forests that cover about 40 per cent of the country with woody vegetation. The production of tropical wood was virtually halted by the conflict, but there is good potential for timber export if large-scale investments are made in the sector. Economy Angola is endowed with rich natural resources. It has abundant reserves of diamonds, large oil deposits, marine and freshwater resources with economic potential, good agricultural land and favourable climatic conditions. It is the second most important oil producer and the fourth most important diamond producer in sub-Saharan Africa. Angola’s wealth helped fund both sides of the conflict, and if managed well it could generate economic growth for the whole country. The economy has become dominated by the oil sector, which accounts for more than half of GDP and about 90 per cent of export earnings (2002). The country’s high growth rate – 19 per cent in 2005 – is driven by the oil sector. But much of the rest of the economy has been devastated by war, and poverty rates have soared. The large influx of foreign exchange relative to the strength of the local economy has resulted in high rates of inflation and an overvalued exchange rate, which in turn have had a detrimental effect on domestic industries and on agriculture. Some progress has been made recently towards achieving greater macroeconomic stability. Government policies have significantly reduced inflation rates. In 2005 China made US$2.0 billion in credit available to enable the government to rebuild Angola’s public infrastructure. Several large-scale projects will be completed by the end of 2006.
Source: IFAD |
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