More than 101,000 smallholder farmers across 11 Angolan provinces received technical support from the United Nations in 2025, helping to double maize productivity from 0.5 to 1.1 metric tonnes per hectare, according to the UN’s annual results report released in Luanda on Tuesday.
The findings were presented by the UN country team in Angola and draw on programme data compiled across the organisation’s agencies operating in the country throughout the year.
A significantly expanded agricultural extension network was identified as the backbone of the productivity gains. The number of extension workers grew from 40 to 246, with technical assistance delivered directly into communities in the provinces of Bengo, Benguela, Bié, Cuanza-Norte, Cuanza-Sul, Cunene, Huíla, Malanje, Uíge, Zaire and Namibe.
Women’s participation in farmer field schools exceeded 50%, with female participants also taking on active leadership roles within rural producer organisations, the report noted.
In the provinces of Huíla, Benguela and Uíge, rural communities expanded cultivated land from three to 21 hectares, aided by improvements to water management systems and irrigation infrastructure supported by the UN.
Community savings and credit funds — known locally as caixas de fundos comunitários — grew to 209 in total, extending credit and savings services to approximately 57,475 people. Women accounted for 46% of participants and youth for 33%, the report said.
The expansion of those funds represented meaningful progress in financial inclusion in communities where the formal banking system has historically had no presence.
The UN additionally trained 229 public servants in renewable energy planning and digital governance, with the aim of embedding clean energy solutions more deeply into local government policy and municipal development strategies.
The 2025 programme year was characterised by a deliberate deepening of inter-agency collaboration, the report stated, with joint results groups, shared coordination platforms and integrated programming becoming standard operating practice rather than the exception.
The results were published under four thematic pillars: People, Peace, Prosperity and Planet.
Source: ANGOP / Original article: https://www.angop.ao/noticias/economia/mais-de-101-mil-agricultores-beneficiam-de-apoio-tecnico-da-onu/
