Mozambique’s agro-ecological transition moving at snail's pace

By Charles Mangwiro

MAPUTO, Mozambique: Tavares Anselmo Chauque spent 35 years of his life working in the Infulene Valley, Maputo’s green belt where horticulture provides a living for thousands of people.

He described how difficult it is to transition from bio-chemical agriculture to an agro-ecological approach based on the conservation of soil, water, forest, and other natural resources, as well as cultivated plants and animals.

“To stop using bio-chemicals in our activities here would spell doom for food production along this Infulene valley, and the entire Maputo city residents would starve due to food shortage. We use various chemicals and pesticides to help our vegetables grow quickly and to kill insects that destroy our crops. We’ve tried, but it’s a struggle for us, and we don’t see it working, Chauque says as he briefly stops irrigating one of his eight vegetable beds in the valley.

In the Infulene and adjacent Mahotas Valleys. Thousands of people practise urban agriculture there, and Chauque makes enough in his field to feed his six children and send them to school.

Decades of unsustainable farming practices have resulted in biodiversity loss, soil and landscape degradation, decreased production, and increased greenhouse gas emissions.

Recently, increased awareness of the anthropogenic role in climate change has led to the adoption of various practices and strategies that aid in the construction of sustainable and resilient systems, particularly through an agro-ecological approach.

“In Mozambique, we practice subsistence agriculture to alleviate poverty and then sell the small surplus to local markets, so going agro ecological takes a long time and is insufficient for the life of a traditional Mozambican farmer,” Tavares explained.

He went on to say, “Every time we fight pests, we can’t think of doing composts because we don’t have a lot of grass along this valley, and doing composts would aid soil erosion and land degradation.”

The popularity of agro ecology has been steadily increasing around the world, with various regions prone to land degradation adopting its approach not only as an adaptation strategy but also as a way to restore land.

However, little is known about agro-ecological practices in Mozambique and their effects on labour, income, and food security, for example.

In Mozambique’s Infulene valley, agro ecology is still a new concept that farmers fear will push them back. Felismina Novela, the head of a farmer’s block with approximately 6000 members in the iInfulene valley, believes that the agro ecology concept still requires extensive awareness campaigns.

“Farmers are accustomed to using fertiliser and other chemicals, and they believe that these biochemicals are responsible for higher crop yields. For them, agro ecology should be practised in rural areas where they have plenty of time. We need to produce tonnes of vegetables for Maputo’s nearly five million residents in a very short period of time. Compost or manure, whether chicken or cattle, will not allow our crops to grow quickly. It would be ideal if a bio-chemical substitute could be introduced as an option,” Novela stated in an interview with this reporter.

According to Felismina Novela, many families rely on urban agriculture to survive.

“Customers buy all kinds of fresh veggies for various types of salads because products are seasonal, according to sellers, so farmers here should be very quick with the supply chain,” said Novela.

The agro-ecological approach is based on the conservation of soil, water, forest, and other natural resources, as well as cultivated plants and animals.

A Non-profit organization, the Association for Sustainable Development, ABIODES  said Mozambique has a high potential for agricultural production, but efforts to increase agricultural production have not been sustainable.

According to Luis Alberto, the coordinator of ABIODES, the government, which views commercial agriculture as a major driver of transformation, has been encouraging large-scale agricultural investments and primarily supporting market-oriented farmers.

“Agro ecology should be promoted right at the grassroots level, the peasant farmer,” Alberto said in an interview.

“Many farmers are not yet aware of the benefits of going agro ecological, so there is still a lot of work to be done, as ABIODES that is what we are pushing for and slowly we are getting there, but with a lot of work involved.”

“Some low-income families go out and buy vegetables to sell on stools in front of their homes,” he added.

“Their primary customers are their neighbours, which shortens the distance to markets. The beds of beets, kale, carrots, spinach, and other vegetables are used to feed the Maputo population,” Alberto Luis said.

Meanwhile, several phone calls and emails to Mozambique’s national Farmers Union, UNAC, and Mozambique’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development went unanswered.

However, with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) set to convene in Egypt next month, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, AFSA, believes that agroecology, an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable approach to food and farming, is a critical solution for Africa’s farmers to adapt to climate change and create resilience.

At a recent climate change convening in Addis Ababa under the theme “AFRICA’S ROADMAP TO ADAPTATION THROUGH AGROECOLOGY: Defining Africa’s Position for COP27,” AFSA General Coordinator and Panel Expert with IPES-Food, Dr Million Belay said, “Ignoring agroecology is ignoring Africa’s farmers and sidelining the planet’s most vulnerable people who are being hit first and worst by the climate crisis. Africa could feed itself many times over.”

The initiative of the meeting in Addis Ababa taken by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) had the goal to discuss Africa’s situation against the climate crisis, including agro-ecology as a model for adaptation to climate change.

The three days of work was devoted to developing a clear roadmap to adopt agroecology as a viable and sustainable adaptation response. In the end, a call on COP27 was made.

“We demand that COP27 put agroecology at the centre of Africa’s climate adaptation, creating resilience for Africa’s small-scale farmers, fishers, pastoralists, indigenous communities and their food systems.

In addition, the call stated that “Africa is suffering the effects of the climate emergency every day. Rising temperatures, floods, storms, droughts and depleted lands impact small-scale food producers across Africa first and worst. Forced to adapt to sustain livelihoods and feed families, we are met with negligible support or access to climate finance.”

Participants also called that to achieve the intended goals, there is a need to “Meaningfully engage small-scale food producers and indigenous communities, including women and youth, in the COP27 negotiations and beyond, they manage landscapes across Africa. Reject false solutions that threaten land, seeds and breeds and increase reliance on global agrochemical corporations.”.

The 27th session of the Conference of the Parties, (COP 27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) , running from 7 to 18 November, in Sharm el-Sheikh, South Sinai, Egypt, will bring governments together to accelerate global efforts to confront the climate crisis.

Author: Jornal Visão Moçambique

Jornal moçambicano que inova na maneira de informar.