Women in Agriculture: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities in Mozambique
Smallholder farmers like Olívia Ezequiel are turning challenges into opportunities, contributing to both their personal growth and the broader economic development of Mozambique.
Cultivating Resilience: Learning to Grow Opportunities
In the beginning, Olívia Ezequiel’s experience in agriculture was born out of necessity.
“I remember it was a Sunday in 2013. My husband didn’t work; he just did odd jobs. I also just stayed at home. That day, we had nothing to feed our children,” she recalled. “After crying so much, I went from house to house asking to do something in exchange for money, and I found a field to clean. They only gave me 250 meticais ($3.91).”
Determined to provide for her five children, Olívia continued to work in that field until one day, the farm owner offered to teach her to produce tomatoes and watermelons under her supervision. Over time, Olívia learned to grow produce and became more confident in her skills.
Agriculture employs about 80% of the workforce in Mozambique and is critical to the country’s economy and food security. Mozambique has the potential to be a significant food producer in Southern Africa, but improving agricultural productivity is challenging. Climate change and regional instability are also leading to more food insecurity.
In 2020, Olívia and her family fled their home in Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique because of the insurgency. They moved further south to the district of Dondo in the Beira Corridor to rebuild their lives. But Olívia ran into challenges as a farmer in Dondo. Climate change has made the region prone to droughts, and Olivia’s crops would often wither and die before she could harvest them.
Helping Women in Agriculture Adapt to Climate Challenges
The Mangwana program supports smallholder farmers like Olívia by helping increase their climate resilience. Through this initiative, Olívia received technical assistance and inputs, including improved tomato seeds, to help her adapt to the long periods of drought in the Beira Corridor. With these new seeds, Olívia expects to produce 50 tons of tomatoes, a more than three-fold increase over her previous production.
Mangwana, meaning ‘tomorrow’ in the local languages spoken in the Beira Corridor, is funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and implemented by a consortium of partners, including TechnoServe. The four-year project aims to transform the agricultural sector in the region, and improve food security and nutrition for 227,000 people. Mangwana helps farmers adopt better practices to improve their food security, incomes, and the environment.
The technical assistance provided by Mangwana program technicians goes beyond just agricultural practices.
“I’m learning from the Mangwana technicians how to control, from the purchase of seeds to the harvest,” Olívia shared. “I’ve also learned how to spend and save, taking part in savings groups and processing not only watermelon but also tomatoes, cabbage, kale, and lettuce for domestic use.”
New Growth for a Better Tomorrow
Today, Olívia owns a 3-hectare field where she produces tomatoes, watermelons, and other vegetables. She sells most of her produce and uses the surplus for her family’s consumption. She now makes a profit of 210,000 meticais ($3,287) per season from tomatoes alone, showcasing the earning ability in Mozambique’s agricultural sector when farmers have access to knowledge and resources.
Olívia dreams of expanding her business and exporting watermelon and tomatoes. She also wants to share the techniques she learned with other local producers.
Through resilience, determination, and support from programs like Mangwana, smallholder farmers like Olívia are turning challenges into opportunities, contributing to both their personal growth and the broader economic development of Mozambique.
