Angola's Fishing Resurgence

Angola currently produces over 300,000 tons per year of fish and crustaceans, of which some 85% is consumed locally and aims to increase production by 30% in the coming years.  One-third of Angola’s animal protein comes from fish and artisan fishing represents 30% of the country’s total fishing activity countrywide.

Despite a clear abundance of fish stocks, there is, as yet, no intense exploitation of the resource and few sizeable fishing vessels are in evidence.   Nevertheless, such is the plenitude that Angolan’s fish and shellfish industry is already returning to its former pre-war prosperity.

Fisheries minister Victória de Barros Neto believes Angola has the potential to land much greater catches.  The long coastline, normally blessed with hospitably calm seas, is clearly capable of greater sustained development and of providing food resources to meet the population’s demand for a healthier diet.   Angola’s coast is 1,600 km long and its exclusive economic zone waters cover 330,000 sq. km.

As part of its effort to boost the fishing industry, Angola will hold its first ever International Fishing and Aquaculture Fair.  FIP Angola (Feira Internacional das Pescas e da Aquaculture de Angola) runs from November 27-30. The event claims to promote the quality of fishery products, facilitate the exchange of experience and encourage innovation.  Over 15 various countries have signed up to participate in this knowledge-sharing program.

Angola also has a well-developed tradition of sea angling as a sport along its extensive and uncrowded coast. The most accessible type of hobby-fishing involves beach-casting where not only record-sized fish can be captured, but provides a cost-efficient food source.

Game fishing from boats, is conducted by long-established clubs to distances as far as 50km offshore to hunt giant fighting fish such as blue marlins and tarpon.

Some of the largest Atlantic sailfish are caught off Luanda, and a record specimen of 64.6kg was landed off Lobito in March 2014.   Angolan holds many of the world line records for sailfish and a Sailfish Classic game fish competition is held in Luanda every year with contestants taking part from around the globe.

Angola’s Ministry of Fisheries is making large investments in long-term structuring, spending $60 million on two fisheries protection and research vessels.  These will help fight illegal fishing of protected species while also acting as rescue boats. In order to reinforce Angola’s capacity to control and inspect fisheries, the ministry also acquired scientific research vessel Pensador to study phytoplankton and zooplankton.

Another Ministry of Fisheries initiative announced in June involves using fish waste and fish with low commercial value in the production of animal feed supplements and fertilizer. The effort will also reduce the problem of environmental contamination.

The future looks increasingly bright for Angola’s diet as well as the fish and seafood resources that serve it. (From Sonangol Universo Magazine Sept 2014)

Angolan Food: Pudim Dessert

Pudim Dessert

This is a light and moist pudding that has a long history in Angolan culture and households. This recipe has a hint of passion fruit (a fruit native to Angola) and for a richer version of the dessert, add fresh cream. 

INGREDIENTS

250g condensed milk
3 large eggs
3 passion fruits (or 4 oz. Coconut)
2 cup milk full fat or semi-skimmed
2 tsp flour
1/2 cup Sugar – for caramel

METHOD

Pre heat boiling hot water, gas level 4: add the sugar in chiffon cake tube tin, place the tin in the fire gas level 2 until it turns to caramel, leave to cool aside, in a clear bowel. Whisk the eggs together, then add the condensed milk and continue to whisk. Add the milk, passion fruit, 2 flour and whisk together.

Put the mix in the cake tin cover, if you don't have a cover use clean fill to cover the pudding and cover the water pan and put in the boiling water for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, place in a plate to serve. (From Angolan Food Recipes)

Stirring Initiatives: Angola's Coffee

Thanks to a number of new initiatives, there is a resurrection in Angola's fortunes in the world's most valuable farm commodity, coffee.

Angola was formerly the industry's fourth-largest grower, but its coffee output plummeted in the 1980s and 1990s as farmers abandoned the land to seek the safety of towns because of the civil war. The country produced a quarter of a million tons of coffee beans at its peak in 1973, but it sank to a low of point of just 3000 tons in 1992.

A farming project in the Porto Amboim region of Kwanza Sul province is in the vanguard of efforts to reinstate Angola's past coffee glories, but this time with added incentive of ensuring better prices and conditions for the producers.   The project has the financial support of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the Angola and US governments and sales assistance from US Aid and the Cooperative League of the USA (CLUSA).

The Porto Amboim project started in 2008 when the government and NGOs encouraged 4,917 families to farm 8,000 hectares of neglected plantations covering three types of farming areas; low-lying savannah, cool forested highlands and an area of transition between the two.

The lower areas could grow the more resilient yet less valuable coffee variety, Robusta, while the highlands were suitable for the more sought-after and thus pricier Arabica variety.  Arabica is milder tasting, while Robusta gives higher yields and is used more in instant coffee and in stronger roasts.

Each family was given $500 in credit, around two hectares of land and 2,000 coffee plants in plastic bags from a stock of 10 million.  The families had to nurture these young plants in home-made nurseries and then replant the mature bushes on their plots.  So that the families could survive during this process, they also received help to farm a mix of subsistence crops such as bananas and cassava.
Replanting of the coffee saplings had an excellent success rate of 87-90%.

Coffee production rose steadily thanks to local model farms which served as examples of best practice.  Here growers were taught the importance and benefits of pruning and adding organic fertilizer made from coffee husks to add yields.  In order to improve coffee flavor, farmers learned to use simple, raised drying tables to reduce the earthy taste of the coffee and thus gain higher prices.

Because the previously abandoned coffee plantations had not used mineral fertilizers nor industrial insecticides for over 40 years, the Angolan coffee farms had the right to claim in their marketing that they had been organic for longer than most.

The Porto Amboim project also addressed the wider development issues of education and healthcare. Project workers and coffee-growers in areas with difficult access have communally constructed 17 classrooms from local materials to serve almost 1,700 pupils.   Community health centers and small-scale infrastructures such as bridges have been developed with the government providing teachers and health workers.

Over the next five years, Porto Amboim farmers are expected to produce 6,000 tons a year, double the low point for the whole country in 1992.  Amboim coffee can be the reference point for all of Angolan coffee and in fact the high quality of the Amboim's Robusta variety is very similar in taste to the region's much higher-valued Arabica variety.  (Sonangol Universo Magazine)

Angolan Food: Mukua

Mukua is the traditional Angolan dried fruit from the emblematic baobab tree. The fruit has a hard shell like a coconut and is a whole food, which is naturally dried on the baobab tree, resulting a ready to consume powder containing typically 8-12 % water.

Inside the hard shell are seeds, which are coated with whitish powder, which is the fruit pulp. The white globules seen in the photograph are the pulp with a dark seed inside. The globules are surrounded by red fibers, which are very high in certain nutrients.

The ivory-colored first pulp contains very high amounts of vitamin C, and contains significant amounts of calcium, as well as other vitamins and minerals. In addition, baobab is loaded with natural dietary fiber, both soluble and insoluble. This makes it a healthy whole fruit supplement, as well as helps to add texture when added to other foods. 

In Angola, mukua, the dried baobab fruit is a popular food source. The fruit pulp is commonly sucked, or chewed in its fresh state or used to add to sauces after cooking, or as a supplement to mix with staple food such as corn meal and cassava.

When ground into a powder, it is easily water dispersible and  commonly made into a drink when mixed with water or milk, either with or without sugar.  The pulp has an acidic, almost citrusy taste, which makes a good and refreshing base for smoothies or other cold drinks.

Other uses for baobab pulp include using it as a hair rinse, milk curdling agent and a substitute for cream of tartar, among other things. When burned, it is a good repellent for cattle flies.  (excerpts from www. baobab.com)

State of Angola's Disastrous Drought

Angola is now in the midst of a disastrous drought.  This is current report just released by the International Red Cross.

Drought is currently affecting 10 coastal and central highland provinces of Angola. Agricultural production has dramatically decreased and increasing water shortages have been reported. It is estimated that agricultural production will decrease by more than 400,000 tons nationally and an estimated 366,780 households (1,833,900 people) will be affected  by food security across the 10 of the 18 provinces.

The rapid assessment conducted by the Angolan National Department of Nutrition in May 2012 confirmed that most of the population, especially in rural areas, is affected by the drought. The total number of acutely malnourished children in the ten affected provinces is currently estimated at 533,000.

The assessment carried out by the Red Cross team confirmed that the situation is serious and requires immediate attention before it escalates out of hand in the coming 3-4 months. In some areas, families are sharing with livestock, few water sources that are also highly contaminated. Consequently, the possibility of outbreak of water related diseases are very high.

The Ministry of Agriculture reported a 60% decrease of average rainfall amount over the planting season resulting in 30% drop in crop production especially of cereals like maize. Total crop failure reported was recorded in some regions especially of bean crops and other drought tolerant tubers. With more than 70% of the population living below the poverty datum line, the impact will be devastating. (ICRC Nov 2012)

Angolan Christmas Tradition; 'Bolo-rei'

To celebrate the end of the year and the coming New Year, an Angolan Christmas tradition is the eating of ‘bolo-rei’ (translated ‘king-cake’);  a sweet, Portuguese cake.

The tradition of the bolo-rei began in France in the seventeenth century; it arrived in Portuguese lands in the late nineteenth century and never left.

The cake receipe is simple: a light yeast dough, filled with raisins, nuts and dried fruits, prepared in such a way as to resemble a crown. But it is laden with symbolism. The sweet that Portugal spread around the world (including towards Angola and Brazil) is an allusion to the three wise men (hence the form of a crown) and is stuffed with a fava bean and a present. The person “rewarded” with the slice containing the fava bean, it is usually designated to prepare the cake for the following year. Whoever receives the slice with the surprise has the right to make a special request and will have luck and wealth in that year.

Play and superstitions aside, the candy became a tradition and it begins to be eaten since the night of Christmas until the Three Kings’ Day, on January 6th. As a curiosity: the gâteau des rois, as the cake is called in France, is completely different as the French cake is made of puff pastry.  In spite of this, the legend surrounding its shape is the same. (TAAG Austral Magazine)