Results

Since its independence in 1975, the government of Mozambique has treated education as a fundamental right of all citizens and as essential for the reduction of poverty and the development of the country.

Despite education rates improving in the last few years, with increased enrolment rates and positive trends in gender equity, universal access to education in Mozambique remains a challenge.

Some of the reasons for Mozambique’s poor Human Development Index (HDI)* ranking is linked to poor access to education as well as inequalities in years of schooling between girls and boys. Only 14 % of adult women have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 27.3 % of their male counterparts.

ADPP’s work in the area of education began in 1982, where literacy programmes and vocational training were among some of the very first initiatives implemented. ADPP fully subscribes to the universal principle that education is a human right for all. In promotion of this right, and in partnership with the government, ADPP later expanded its education programme to include training of primary school teachers, investment in higher education, expansion of vocational training centres as well as early childhood interventions, while continuing with literacy programs.

ADPP also engaged in education projects for people with disabilities, with a stronger emphasis on girls, women, orphans and vulnerable children. In this way, ADPP ensures that “no one is left behind” in education.

ADPP’s educational programmes seek to inspire and complement public education programmes and work with national government agencies towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 – “Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education” and lifelong learning.

Mozambique faces a number of public health challenges, including both infectious and chronic diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), malnutrition, respiratory diseases, and waterborne diseases. Many of these diseases are rooted in poverty-related conditions such as poor household economy, poor diets, insufficient food intake, multiple and recurring infectious diseases, limited access to quality food, clean water, hygiene and health services. All these factors contribute to the high burden of diseases in the country.

Improving the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable communities is central to ADPP‘s vision. ADPP interventions contribute to help stop the spread of communicable diseases, especially the ones with highest burden: HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. In 2019 ADPP implemented a number of HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and Nutrition projects and reached out to more than 1 million individuals in all provinces through carefully planned and coordinated programmes.

With over 30 years’ experience in the field, ADPP health projects are designed with the active participation of communities.  Through empowering community members with health education, skills, capacities and promoting health seeking behaviours, tackling barriers such as stigma and discrimination, ADPP truly puts people in the driving seat for solutions providing an example of how progress can be achieved.  Good health, hygiene practices and safe sanitation are important for the wellbeing of the population and also provide the necessary foundations for economic development.

ADPP health projects are aligned with the global strategies, regional and national strategies and policies, including the Sustainable Development Goals and Mozambique’s strategic plans for:  Tuberculosis, Promotion of Health, Communication for social change to prevent malnutrition, to maximise global efforts and resources in the fight against diseases.

In Mozambique 3,800,000 small-scale farmers support the livelihoods of around 25,000,000 people, which accounts for approximately 80% of the population. The majority of small-scale farmers apply traditional farming techniques, and they lack technical assistance, basic infrastructure and face limited access to markets. In recent years their situation has been further exacerbated by climate change impacts, including droughts, flooding and the increased occurrence of extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones. The result is that their productivity is low, post-harvest losses are high and as a result food security is undermined.

Subsistence agriculture – which is the predominant form of farming in Mozambique – rarely evolves to an economically viable option for extra income. This, in turn, perpetuates the vicious cycle of poverty in rural areas and makes the country’s food security highly volatile.

To respond to these challenges, ADPP Mozambique has adopted an innovative approach to assist farmers, the “Farmers’ Clubs” model, developed by HUMANA People to People, designed to support small and medium-sized farmers in transforming agriculture, and also other food chain such as fisheries, into competitive and sustainable sectors that increase food security and the income of rural households in Mozambique.

The approach empowers small scale farmers by organising them into groups (clubs), providing regular training and run practical field demonstrations followed up by systematic coaching by ADPP instructors during the course of the programme. The model is flexible and adaptable to local conditions. The clubs enable farmers to work together to address the array of challenges they face, including promoting gender equality in farming, building capacity for sustainable agriculture practices, training small holder farmers to migrate from subsistence to commercial farming. The model also strengthens farmers’ access to markets and finance.

The goal of the Farmers’ Clubs is to equip farmers with the skills and knowledge needed to adopt various sustainable farming techniques. Key amongst these are ‘Conservation Agriculture Techniques’ that improve soil and environmental management and utilization, mitigate the impact of climate change and the negative effects of global warming to ensure food security now and in the future.

Farmers are also trained in improving domestic storage facilities and small-scale processing of agricultural products. ADPP’s approach to agribusiness and market linkages includes awareness raising and empowerment of farmers in all aspects of the agricultural value chain and market.

The first Farmers’ Clubs project was launched in Mozambique in 2004. ADPP has since implemented the programme in various regions of the country with a number of selected partners and has reached total of about 33,000 small scale farmers including producers and fishermen.

Disasters, exacerbated by climate change, will be more frequent, more numerous, and have a more devastating impact on communities now and in the future. In 2019 the world witnessed extreme weather disasters severely amplified with extensive damages in different parts of the world. Mozambique was not spared.

During these calamities, the poorest and most vulnerable countries and communities suffer the most, despite being the ones who are doing the least to cause it.

To respond to this, ADPP Mozambique mainstreams climate change prevention and mitigation in all its projects and programmes, whenever possible. In the event of an emergency disaster, ADPP work side by side with the affected communities to provide assistance for them to recover from this. This is done in collaboration with other partners. After the emergency, ADPP continues to work with affected communities, local government and partners to build resilience and ensure their road to sustainability.

In 2019, when Mozambique was hit by two strong tropical cyclones;  Cyclone Idai which made landfall in Beira City and cut a path of destruction through Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe and a few weeks later Cyclone Kenneth hit the Northern Provinces. The destructions, loss of lives and livelihood for millions of Mozambicans changed everything in a split of a second.