When we
first moved to Mozambique back in 2003, it was one of the poorest countries in
the world. And although in recent years our host country
has slowly climbed up the development scale, the vast majority of our friends
live in abject or absolute poverty. In 2014,
Mozambique ranked number 178 out of 187 in the UN's Human Development Index (Haiti
and Afghanistan rank 10 and 9 spots higher, respectively). Over 70% of the population live in
"Multidimensional Poverty" and over 80% live on less than $2 a day (for more info click here).
Statistics like these are, at the
same time, both mind boggling and misleading because the situation in Cabo
Delgado, the province where the Makua-Metto people are most concentrated, is even
worse. It is the furthest from the
capital (where much of the economic advancement has been concentrated) and the
rare person with a job earning more than two dollars a day is supporting his or
her family on that income as well as a large group of extended relatives.
Our team is
committed to ministering in a way that integrates both the spiritual and
physical aspects of life, so in this context that means addressing the giant of
poverty - the challenge though is to discern which initiatives are worth
pursuing. We've tried our hand at a
number of development-like projects that eventually failed like the Lorena
stoves and my non-profit chicken business that was a little too non-profit, if
you know what I mean...(cut to Alan shaking head, sadly).
Lately, our
team has chosen to be involved in three specific projects that we believe are
making a real difference.
One of the
projects is partnering with a Peace Corp worker in our town to build a
pedestrian bridge over the Montepuez River (to learn more about that, click here).
Also there
is an ongoing project that Martha Smiths works with called, Urerihana. It is an association of women who make
jewelry and bags to sell - they make some great stuff if you need some ideas
for Christmas presents...just saying...click here to see some samples or this video to learn more.
But today I
want to share about a third initiative that has had a much longer incubation
period before finally experiencing some success. The Makua-Metto people we work with are
mostly subsistence farmers and we learned that by making a few changes to their
practices they could greatly increase their crop yields. There are a number of organizations that
teach sustainable agriculture principles and we were able to send two men to go
through the training in Nampula. The principles include crop placement and
rotation, making of compost, not burning the fields and planting at the right
time. Also we encourage them to put a blanket of mulch over their fields
so that the rain and nutrients soak in well and fields don't suffer from
run-off.
It took us
a while to figure out how to get people to implement these principles. We tried a number of avenues with little
success. We did seminars here on our
team's property. We tried experimental
plots for people to come and observe. We offered a bicycle as a prize for the
person who produced the highest yield.
But, nothing seemed to work. In
retrospect, I can't believe that it took me so long to realize that we needed
to change trainers and let the person who is actually using the principles in
his farm teach others (duh!) and that we needed to take the seminars out to
villages where we had strong connections and find a way to get communities of
interested people to use the methods together.
I figured that
making those changes would help, but the way this project has functioned since
the end of 2012 has been better than I imagined!
Yesterday I
met with Goncalves Inancio to evaluate the Sustainable Agriculture Program and
assess progress on our 10:100 vision.
The goal of
the project over the last two years was to form 10 associations of farmers
(actually we have formed 12 associations, though only 10 of them are going
strong) who are using these principals in local, communal plots. The
ultimate end goal or objective of the project is to see 100 Mozambican families
implement these principles and practices in their own personal farms.
The trainer
(who is a gifted teacher and preacher and has lots of credibility as a farmer)
and I work together to plan out seminars in different places. I will list below the village associations
that have been formed. These groups have been visited multiple times each
year and they have all used what they've learned in communal plots.
Namuno
District - Mukolo, Masha, Talelane, Jaiani.
Balama
District - Regadillo, Mwalia, QueQue.
Chiure
District - Namitil, Mutota, Milamba, Mahipa, Mitekiani.
This year's
round of sustainable agriculture seminars is completed and participants are
getting ready to plant once the rains begin in a few more weeks. We are
on our way to meeting the goal of 100 members using the principles and
practices in their personal plots. Praise God! When that happens there is greater potential
to see these ideas catch on with their neighbors and friends.
This
project has cost us about $1000 a year for the last two years. The
project currently does not have funding
for this next stage. If we had a commitment of between $1000-1250 for
2015 and 2016 (total $2000-2500) that would allow us to pay for a follow up
visits and seminars in the 10-12 "old" associations as well as begin
at least 3 new associations in different villages that have requested the
training.
Okay, admittedly
I could have streamlined this post and made a neater, nicer (and maybe more
effective?) pitch, but I have two reasons for sharing all this background
information with you.
First of
all, for people trying development projects in places like Mozambique, I want
to encourage you that "real" development projects are like this. It often takes a number of failures (even in
good projects like this) where you feel like giving up before things finally
begin to click. So, don't lose heart...unless
you realize the benefits won't be worth the investment...then you'll need to
make that call.
Secondly, to
those of you who might consider giving to support this initiative, I want you
to know how this sustainable agriculture program fits in with the rest of our
team's ministry. Most development
organizations work on projects with a short time period and then they are
gone. They often are disconnected with
the rest of the life in the village (they don't speak the local language or
know the local culture). Since we've
been here for over a decade people trust us and I think we have a greater
chance to truly make a holistic difference (effecting both the spiritual and
the physical spheres of life - for example, one of the association members in
Namitil became a part of the local church after working alongside its members
in that group). I hope that makes sense.
If you are
interested in helping, email me or put a comment below and we'll figure out how
to get in touch. This could be a great
Christmas present, one that would give a lot to help our Mozambican
friends...just saying :)
Grace and
Peace,
Alan
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