DEVELOPMENT OF A SUSTAINABLE MARKET GARDENING SECTOR
Mozambique, Maputo
January 2013 – december 2015
ESSOR and Direction de l’agriculture et Conseil Municipal de Maputo
300 farmers and 24 public services technicians
Heart of the project
An urban agriculture dangerous for health and environment
In Mozambique, 34% of the families are chronically in a situation of food insecurity partly because of the high and fluctuant prices on the global market. Urban agriculture is an important activity in Maputo, the capital city: it represents 2.000 hectares and about 20.000 families of vegetable producers. Unfortunately, monoculture is the main method of production and chemical pesticides are more and more used at the expense of the environment, the producers and the consumer’s health.
Agroecology for healthy vegetables
It aims at promoting the development of an “ecological agriculture” in Maputo with the support of local State entities (City Hall and the Ministry of Agriculture) the producers and their organization. The project includes the reinforcement of their technical skills, experimentations in the fields, new selling techniques and the elaboration of a certification for the sector through the creation of a label.
Exchange between producers
Reinforce producers’ organization and implement a cooperation framework with other actors of the sector to improve dialogue.
Public partnerships
Involve public institutions to develop the sector; public technicians will be trained to strengthen their knowledge in order for them to support the producers and the sector.
Agroecology
Train farmers to produce vegetables without chemical input through participative experimentation on school farms and with technical and individualized monitoring.
Sells & certification
Support sells and certification of vegetables by reinforcing farmers’ competencies, by increasing point of sells, by establishing a bill of specifications, by choosing a model of certification and by creating a label.
Expected benefits
New skills for the 24 technicians of the public entities;
Quality products on local markets at accessible prices.
