Good afternoon. President Daniel Chapo used the launch of the 2026 Agricultural Marketing Campaign in Ribáuè this weekend to set out an ambitious vision for Mozambique’s rural economy: one in which farmers receive fairer prices, agricultural markets become more organised, and no viable surplus is left without a buyer. He called for a stronger role for the Mozambique Commodity Exchange (BMM) and the Cereals Institute of Mozambique (ICM), including as a buyer of last resort, and promised legal reforms aimed at giving producers greater protection and bargaining power.
Just days earlier, the government announced a 22.7% increase in minimum cotton purchase prices after a difficult season in which many farmers reportedly abandoned the crop. The increase is welcome. But for small producers, predictability can matter almost as much as price. A farmer deciding what to plant next season is responding not only to this year’s market, but to expectations about what happens after that.
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Chapo’s diagnosis is not difficult to understand. Smallholders remain highly exposed to risks they can do little to control: international commodity prices, climate shocks, transport costs and weak bargaining power. His speech repeatedly returned to the idea that the producer should no longer be “the weakest link” in the agricultural chain.
