Carrinho Agri's executive director has called for a comprehensive package of state and private support for Angola's farming sector — including guaranteed irrigation access, full mechanisation and co-financed crop insurance — arguing that without these foundations, smallholder farmers will remain trapped in rain-dependent, single-harvest cycles.
David Maciel, speaking on the sidelines of the AgriTech Show Luanda 2026 fair in the municipality of Cabiri, Icolo e Bengo province, used the two-day event to lay out his vision for accelerating Angola's agricultural transformation, expressing solidarity with small-scale producers and stressing the need for substantially greater support.
According to Maciel, irrigation infrastructure is the most urgent priority. He said the allocation of and access to water for irrigation should be built out systematically to unlock year-round production and reduce the sector's dependence on rainfall.
"We want to guarantee that 100% of farmers in the family sector have access to irrigation and mechanisation," he said, adding that achieving this would enable producers to complete between two and three guaranteed annual production cycles, rather than a single rain-fed harvest.
At the commercial scale, Carrinho Agri's goal is to ensure that large farm operators can access the capital needed to finance large-scale irrigation systems, full mechanisation and grain storage silos, he added.
"We also want to guarantee 100% mechanisation for farmers in the family sector — soil preparation, mechanised seeding, harrowing, fertiliser application, harvesting — all carried out with equipment," Maciel said, outlining a vision in which manual labour is progressively replaced by machinery across every stage of the production cycle.
At the AgriTech Show Luanda, Carrinho Agri is showcasing its integrated technology package across the group's various business segments — Carrinho Proteína, Carrinho Indústria, Carrinho Comércio and banking — to demonstrate the full scope of its vertically integrated agricultural model and its ambitions both within Angola and internationally.
Maciel identified financing as one of the most acute barriers facing farmers today. In his view, crop insurance should be co-financed by the state, or ideally provided free of charge, to protect producers against harvest failures.
He explained that as long as farmers lack access to irrigation, they can only cultivate rain-fed crops and remain entirely exposed to irregular rainfall patterns. If rains fail, he said, producers lose everything — making the insurance gap a direct threat to livelihoods and food security.
Addressing the sector's broader infrastructure needs, Maciel said reliable electricity supply is essential so that farmers are not forced to rely on diesel generators to power irrigation pumps. He also called for the repair of secondary and tertiary roads, arguing that better rural connectivity would lower freight costs and make it economically viable for farmers to move produce to market.
Carrinho Agri is an agricultural development company operating across nine provinces. Its business model centres on seeds, production, procurement and sales, covering seed allocation, technology packages, inputs, fertilisers, pesticides and all implements required by farmers, delivered under forward purchase contracts.
The AgriTech Show Luanda closes on Sunday, with at least 60 companies participating — including foreign firms. The fair aims to demonstrate Angola's agricultural potential and the breadth of what is already being produced in the country.
Throughout the event, technicians and farmers are meeting in conferences and round-table discussions to debate how productive capacity can be raised across the country and how Angola can achieve food self-sufficiency.
Source: ANGOP / Original article: https://www.angop.ao/noticias/agricultura/grupo-carrinho-agri-defende-mais-apoios-para-agricultores/
