Traditionally
in Mozambique, men are responsible for generating and managing income for the
household, while women are responsible primarily for domestic affairs. However,
MozaCajú, a project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
supporting production, processing and marketing of cashew along the entire
value chain, is working to change that by supporting female cashew farmers to
become more actively involved in agricultural activities and livelihoods.
MozaCajú
recognizes that investing in women has a large impact on the economic and
social well-being of the household and community. Therefore, the project has
made deliberate efforts to reach out to women to include them in various roles
along the value chain. Female farmer promotion agents, for example, have
contributed to an increase in cashew nut yields and incomes by helping to teach
farmers new production techniques. Meanwhile, female nursery owners have helped
increase the sustainability of the cashew industry by promoting new planting.
Teaching
best practices in their communities
Gilda practices teaching at a training on crop protection.
Fatima
Mussa and Gilda Jose are two cashew farmers from neighboring districts in Cabo
Delgado province, a predominantly cashew-producing region. Fatima is from
Mueda, a district in the interior, and Gilda is from the coastal district of
Mocîmboa da Praia. In 2014 these women were chosen to become two of MozaCajú’s
179 farmer promotion agents, “promoters” for short. A promoter is a cashew
farmer who is trusted and known in his or her community and who works on behalf
of MozaCajú to deliver technical assistance on cashew production to other
farmers. Being a promoter is an important and challenging job – it is
essentially the role that agricultural extension workers have in many other
parts of the world.
MozaCajú
has specific criteria for promoters, including attainment of a certain level of
schooling and literacy, as well as approval from the community. The majority of
MozaCajú’s promoters are male, but around 20 percent are female. Gilda and
Fatima were chosen by fellow farmers because of their education levels and
their active participation in the community.
Over
the past two years, these women have joined other MozaCajú promoters in
trainings on techniques for improved cashew production, such as cleaning,
pruning, harvesting and post-harvest techniques. They have traveled to
centralized locations for these trainings, which strive to foster peer learning
within the group.
These
trainings have provided opportunities for promoters to get out of their own
communities in order to meet other farmers. This has been particularly
important for the female promoters, as they get few opportunities to travel to
new districts. The trainings also allow them to establish an informal network
of other female farmers to share best practices. As Gilda and Fatima have been attending the same training
sessions since 2014, they have come to know and learn from one another despite
living about 55 miles apart – a large distance in a rural area.
The
real work of the promoter, however, begins when they return to their
communities. As promoters, these women are responsible for disseminating new
knowledge and information to other cashew farmers – who are organized in groups
of 20 to 30 people – through the help of materials such as field manuals and
posters.
Through
MozaCajú, promoters like Gilda and Fatima are reaching over 23,000 cashew
farmers with these new and improved production techniques. The farmers they
have trained have seen a 31 percent increase in productivity and a 71 percent
increase in farmer income.
The
experience of being a promoter has had a positive impact on the women as well.
They have learned how to organize their community and communicate important information
to large groups of people – skills that most rural Mozambican women do not have
an opportunity to develop.
Seeding
equality in her nursery
A
few hundred miles south from Gilda and Fatima, Mariamo Agy works as a cashew
farmer and nursery owner in the Angoche district of Nampala province.
In
early 2014, Mariamo and her husband Carlos, who is a MozaCajú promoter, decided
that she would attend MozaCajú nursery trainings being held in a nearby
village. Mariamo learned how to establish and run a nursery, including
techniques for grafting seedlings. Following the training, she received the
necessary materials in order to begin her work as a nursery owner.
Mariamo tends to her cashew seedlings
"I
learned in the MozaCaj training that for better production, I should select the
plants with the desirable characteristics and later remove scions for
grafting,” Mariamo explained. “Thus, at the time of production, I select and
mark the plants with the best characteristics… ensuring that the new plants
have high productive potential.”
Last
year, Mariamo produced more than 3,800 seedlings that successfully germinated.
She sold these seedlings for a total income of MZN 30,460, or approximately
$550, a large sum in rural Mozambique where the GDP per capita is less than
$600.
Declining
productivity of cashew trees with limited re-planting, has been one of the
greatest challenges for Mozambican cashew farmers. Mariamo recognizes that
establishing nurseries which can enable the planting of new trees is an
investment in the future and an important way to ensure the sustainability of
the cashew nut industry. Mariamo’s business is one of 85 MozaCajú-supported
nurseries that have enabled the planting of over 400,000 seedlings in local
communities.
Mariamo
loves her work in the nursery so much that she hopes to teach it to the whole
family. “Not only did I earn money that I did not earn before, I also gained
skills and a profession that, besides generating income, I hope to teach my
children in order to continue to serve communities through the provision of
cashew tree seedlings and other fruit trees,” Mariamo said.
Mariamo stands in front of her new house with a tin roof.
In
fact, Mariamo taught Carlos how to graft and plant. The couple even says that
Mariamo has “employed” her husband as a worker in the nursery. Mariamo and
Carlos have already experienced the positive impact that a dual income has on
the household. “With the revenue I earned, I proposed to my husband that we
make home improvements,” Mariamo said. “Since the house we had was
thatch-roofed, it was always susceptible to catching fire at any moment
especially because of the seasonal, uncontrolled fires.”
With
their nursery income, Mariamo and Carlos were able to construct a new home with
a corrugated tin roof, and also buy and install solar panels to provide
electricity during the night. In addition to being less vulnerable to wild
fires and having a dry home during the rainy season, the new electricity will
help their three children study.
Through
their dedicated work over the past few years, these three strong women –
Mariamo, Gilda and Fatima – have been contributing to a larger movement that is
revitalizing the Mozambican cashew nut industry. Their many successes in
promoting adoption of good agricultural practices and re-planting of cashew
trees highlight how women in Mozambique can be empowered to play a leading role
in agricultural value chains, thus contributing to the economic well-being of
their households and communities.
Source:
http://www.technoserve.org
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét