Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

The project aims to enhance equitable and sustainable food production and income security for 3,000 vulnerable smallholder farmers affected by climate change through increased gender-equitable and inclusive agricultural livelihoods and income generation activities in Nhamatanda (Mozambique).

Expected results

1) Increased knowledge and access to improved inputs, technologies and practices by small scale farmers, especially women and youth;

2) Increased smallholder farmers’ productivity of food crops (nutrient?dense crops) and cash crops;

3) Increased small scale farmers’ access to outputs markets;

4) Diversified smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and increased non-agriculture income to cover basic household needs;

5) Established and designed local community adaptation plans by Community-based Nat-ural Resource Management Committees (NRMC);

6) Strengthened adaptive capacity and reduced exposure to climate risks through DRR and ecosystems restoration;

7) Women's needs are heard and taken care of in decision making spaces.

Target group / Beneficiaries

The primary target group for this project are smallholder farmers. The project will directly target 3,000 smallholder farmers, organized in 120 farmer groups, each group with 25 members. Out of the 3,000 beneficiaries, 1,800 (60%) are women; 600 (20%) young people; and 300 (10%) persons with disabilities.

Activities

Key project activities include: organise smallholders’ farmers in inclusive Farmer Field Schools, train smallholder farmers in regenerative agriculture practices through demonstration plots and on production of drought tolerant improved seeds; provide manual and solar irrigation pumps and start-up inputs to vulnerable smallholder farmers; link smallholder farmers to inputs suppliers; train smallholder farmers on post-harvest management, train Farmers Market School Facilitators; construct aggregation centres with at least 10 metric tons capacity, establish business link between smallholder farmers and buyers; train women led groups on poultry production and provide start-up kits; train farmers groups/NRMCs on beekeeping and provide start-up kits; establish and train Village Savings and Loans groups, train NRMC on good governance; register (NRMC to be recognized by government authorities; support NRMC to design and implement community-led adaptation action plans; establish and train new disaster risk reduction (DRR) committees; equip DRR committees and link them with early warning system; train smallholder farmers on production of fixed and mobile improved cooking stoves; map degraded native community forest relevant for ecosystems services; set up tree nurseries and conduct forest restoration though cash for work; establish a recognized community conservation area; mobilize and train women and men on Gender Action Learning (GAL); organize lobby meeting with local authorities to integrate more women in District Consultive Council.

Context

Ranked 181 of 189 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) Report 2019, Mozambique is the world’s 9th least developed country. Mozambique’s economy has been struggling since the sovereign debt crisis (2016), exacerbated by climate disasters and Covid 19 impact. The country is one of the most vulnerable and least prepared countries in the world when it comes to climate change. Mozambique is still grappling with a military insurgency and Islamic insurgency in parts of the gas-rich province of Cabo-Delgado, with impact in Nampula, Niassa and Zambezia, especially because of the influx of Internally Displaced Persons. The impact of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is resulting in increased inflation. Women, youth and PwD are disproportionally affected. High illiteracy, lack of access to health, water and sanitation incl. malnutrition hinder all aspects of development. Women in Sofala lack employment opportunities while income generation opportunities lead families to prioritize the needs of men and boys over the those of women and girls. Gendered roles are strongly entrenched in most families and community social structures, with many responsibilities placed on women for managing the daily household activities. Women are more vulnerable to the effects of poverty. Agriculture has an important role in rural communities of Sofala, where more than 88,6% are in the agricultural sector. At ecological and environmental level, Sofala Province is one of the most prone to natural disasters.

ADC co-financing rate: 50% of total project cost.