Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

In order to address the short and medium term needs of the beneficiaries the aim of this proposed action is to enable 10,180 farming households and 60 extension technicians in the provinces of Manica, Tete and Sofala affected by the El Niño-induced drought to restore household agricultural production, improving access to staple and nutritious foods and restore seed stocks.

Expected results

Output 1: Access to staple crop and vegetable seed improved for timely planting among El Niño-affected households.

Output 2: Conservation agriculture supported to improve sustainable production and enhance resilience among drought-prone communities.

Output 3: Seed multiplication and conservation supported to improve sustainable production and enhance resilience among drought-prone communities.

Target group / Beneficiaries

The main stakeholders for the implementation of the action will be:

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MASA), through the relevant technical departments, namely the National Directorate for Extension and the National Seed Services

• The National Institute for Disaster Management

• The Provincial Directorates of Agriculture and Food Security and the District Agricultural Services

• NGOs and/or CBOs that will be strategically involved in the implementation of the action

• Projects, Programs, NGOs and CBOs with medium to long term interventions in the same area of the action

• Farmers and Woman organizations.

The beneficiaries of the action, an estimated amount of 50,900 people in the targeted provinces of Manica, Tete and Sofala (the focal province of the Austrian Development Cooperation) will be identified locally following results of early assessments and in close consultation with local strictures and community. The selections will however keep in line FAO standards and requirements in same processes and will include:

• Vulnerable, food insecure, small-scale farming households that have lost more than 75% of their crop as a result of the current drought;

• Vulnerable, food insecure, small-scale farming households that have accumulated more than 6% cumulative losses in the last two agricultural campaigns;

• Women headed households will deserve priority in the selection process.

Activities

Ad Output 1:

• Provide seed kits for 8,500 vulnerable smallholder farming households – including 10 kg of maize, 2 kg of legume, 100 g of pumpkin seed and 600 grams of post-harvest insecticide – to targeted households.

• Train and provide extension support to 8,500 vulnerable smallholder farming households

Ad Output 2

• Train 1,000 households through farmer field school and other extension groups to employ conservation agriculture methods and practices.

• Provision of agricultural kits (seed, tools, etc.) to targeted households for applied conservation agriculture skills and increased production.

• Establish demonstration plots to support learning and improve crop production among beneficiary households.

Ad output 3

• Train 1,000 households through farmer field school and other extension groups to multiply good quality seed applying conservation agriculture methods and practices.

• Provision of agricultural input kits (seed, tools, etc.) to targeted households for applied conservation agriculture skills and increased production.

Context

Intense drought in Southern Africa has had significant impact on the lives and livelihoods of millions of households dependent on agriculture. The effects of the El Niño-induced crisis have been especially stark in Mozambique, bringing a very extensive and non-common drought to a country which has 80 percent of the labour force employed in the agriculture sector, largely based on small-scale production and of critical importance to the livelihoods of the rural poor. The country is also a highly vulnerable to climatic shocks being one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.

About one-third of the population is chronically food insecure and malnutrition remains an enduring problem. The current crisis has caused 1.5 million people to become food insecure. In the most affected provinces – Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Sofala, Tete and Zambézia the Government has activated the institutional red alert in order to improve response actions and funding.

Less than 10 percent of farming households are expected to have harvested cereals in this past season. In central and southern Mozambique, it is estimated that main cropping areas only received enough rainfall for less than 50 percent of water requirements for crop production. In the south, it is estimated that 35 percent of the total cultivated area has been affected, especially impacting the production of maize, pulses and root crops – crucially important for food security. Over 260,000 farmers and 0.5 million hectares of crops are estimated to have been affected by drought conditions throughout the country with also a severe impact on seed availability both at household level as well in the supply market.