MOZAMBIQUE’S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE

## **Box 1. Beira Agricultural Growth Corridor**

The Beira Agricultural Growth Corridor (BAGC) initiative, regional in scope, is a partnership between the Government of Mozambique, the private sector, and the international community that aims to stimulate a major increase in agricultural production in the Beira corridor and improve the productivity and incomes of smallholders. A focus on ―agricultural growth corridors‖ offers an opportunity for countries to fast-track the development of their agricultural sectors by building on existing infrastructure networks and encouraging beneficial clusters of agricultural businesses to develop.

The Beira corridor has the potential to become a major new agricultural producing and processing region over the next twenty years. Not less than 190,000 hectares of land could be put under irrigation and produce world-class yields, with crops sold profitably in domestic, regional and international markets. Investments in commercial agriculture would generate major direct and indirect benefits for smallholder farmers and the rural community generally.

_<u>Source:</u>_ <u>Adapted from InfraCo (2010).</u>

# Water supply and sanitation

## **Achievements**

Mozambique has made important progress in reducing its population’s reliance on surface water and open defecation. Reliance on surface water declined from 27 percent in 1997 to 16 percent in 2008, a level comparable to that of an average MIC in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2008, 40 percent of the population practiced open defecation compared to 62 percent in 1997. Even though the improvement has been significant, the percentage of population practicing open defecation is still high, at almost three times the level of MICs (table 11).

Mozambique has managed to move its population up the water and sanitation ladder by means of extending low-cost technologies such as wells, boreholes, and traditional latrines. Access to wells and boreholes increased from 47 percent in 1997 to 59 percent in 2008. But only about 40 percent of these wells can be characterized as safe by the Joint Monitoring Program (JMP). The use of traditional latrines increased from 23 percent to 43 percent between 1997 and 2008 (table 11). These results imply that Mozambique has managed to provide improved water and made progress in access to improved sanitation, albeit slowly. Access to improved water increased from around 30 percent in 1997 to 50 percent in 2008. At this pace, the MDG of 70 percent sustainable coverage in urban areas will likely be met. Access to improved sanitation was raised from a 14 percent share to 21 percent of the population, which represents a 45 percent increase, but the country is off-track for meeting the sanitation MDG.

Mozambique introduced a policy of delegated management frameworks for its water utilities, whereby assets are owned by the government and operations are managed by independent operators. In 1999 the government awarded a contract to manage the water supply systems of the cities of Maputo, Matola, Beira, Dondo, Quelimane, Nampula, and Pemba to a then-consortium comprising SAUR, Aguas de Portugal, and the Mozambican Government. Later on, operations in Maputo became managed by Aguas de Portugal and in Beira, Quelimane, Nampula, and Pemba by FIPAG (Fundo de Investimentos e Patriônio de Abastecimento de Água, Water Assets and Investment Fund).

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