Brazil is reported to have given Zimbabwe a US$300- million loan to increase food production, according to a report in Zimbabwean state media. The loan follows a US$600- million investment in a giant Green Fuels ethanol plant at Chisumbanje in Zimbabwe. Brazilian technical staff and engineers have also been involved in the construction of the 40-million-litre-amonth plant, which uses Brazilian technology and will meet over 70% of Zimbabwe’s current fuel needs. Brazil is the world’s largest producer of ethanol from sugarcane, over five thousand hectares of which has been planted in Zimbabwe to fuel the Chisumbanje plant. Zimbabwe is the first recipient of a Brazilian agricultural aid scheme for Africa. The state-owned Herald newspaper quotes Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made as saying “the More Food for Africa programme is important for the country as it has managed to address some of the challenges we have been facing in securing lines of credit to support the agriculture sector that incidentally is the backbone of the economy.”
