The World Bank will begin investing next year over US$50 million in rehabilitating 31 irrigation systems in central and northern Mozambique, O País reports.
The Mozambican newspaper quotes a World Bank official in Mozambique, Aniceto Bila, as saying the systems will irrigate over 3,000 hectares of farmland in the provinces of Zambézia, Manica and Sofala.
The report says the purpose is to restore the productivity of the land and increase the amount of rice grown on it, so reducing Mozambican dependence on imports of rice.
In 2011 the World Bank provided nearly US$70 million to rehabilitate irrigation systems in the provinces, O País says.
