The Mozambican government and the G-8 signed an agreement to improve the agricultural private investment climate and increase agricultural yield, Mozambican newspaper Correio da Manhã reported.

Under the terms of the deal, Russia, the United States, Japan. The United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, and Germany committed to joining their funding together as part of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

This programme is intended to ensure agricultural growth, food safety and rural development in Africa and, in this specific case, in Mozambique.

One of the specific aims of the programme is to achieve annual growth of 6 percent in the agricultural sector, through activities to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty.

Other specific aims of the programme are achieving food safety by 2015, developing dynamic regional and sub-regional agricultural markets, integrating farmers into the market economy and achieving more equitable wealth distribution.

In order to carry out this programme the Mozambican government has created the Strategic Agricultural Sector Development Plan (PEDSA) to increase agricultural production and yield.

The plan will contribute to food safety and is worth an estimated 120 billion meticals (US$4 billion) to be invested in agricultural research, production and access to markets, according to António Limbau, Mozambique’s deputy Agriculture Minister.