In Mozambique, the provinces of Zambezia, Sofala and Manica are among the most affected by food and nutritional insecurity, due to low agricultural and livestock productivity. Small producers have limited access to resources and means of production and are increasingly exposed to the risks of climate change, such as cyclones, floods and droughts. This limits growth and increases the vulnerability of agricultural systems, with negative effects on the population that depends on them for food and nutritional security.
In this context, the IRIS project aims to strengthen fish farming and dairy production, key sectors for ensuring a diversified and high-quality diet. These productive sectors are expected to integrate Successional Agroforestry Systems (SAF), which enable small producers to produce fish feed and fodder for cows, thereby diversifying their sources of income and strengthening climate resilience at the same time.
There are two macro-issues that affect the productivity of these two sectors, corresponding to two macro-areas of strategic intervention: the first concerns the lack of initial investment, especially in fish farming; the excavation of fish ponds integrated with the installation of SAFs is planned. The necessary technical training will be provided throughout the duration of the initiative. In order to ensure the sustainability of the project, training courses will also be launched in secondary schools. The second issue concerns the stages of storage, distribution and marketing, particularly in the dairy sector; here, measures will be taken to ensure the proper functioning of the cold chain and to provide technical, managerial and entrepreneurial training for staff.
The project aims to achieve food security by increasing and diversifying the income of small producers in the fish farming and dairy sectors in three provinces of central Mozambique: Zambezia, Sofala and Manica, with the latter being ICEI’s specific area of intervention. These objectives will be pursued using a circular approach based on agroforestry systems (SAF), which ICEI has already tested in the past, applied to fish farming and fodder production for dairy cattle. Specific focus will also be given to improving the post-production and marketing processes for these products.
The direct beneficiaries of the project are 270 small producers and their families, selected on the basis of their degree of vulnerability, such as dependence on a single source of income, the presence of persons with disabilities in the household, and the lack of professional opportunities in their areas of residence.
The project will also support a training programme for provincial authorities to ensure the future sustainability of the results achieved, and the creation of SAF fields in three schools, with the aim of teaching young people the principles of agroecology, especially as applied to the industries targeted by the project.
Finally, through the support of six local researchers and an international fellow, applied research will be carried out to produce scientific evidence for the scalability of the SAF model as a tool for economic, environmental and nutritional resilience.
The indirect beneficiaries of the project will be over one million citizens in the provinces involved, who will benefit from greater nutritional diversification.
Project activities
With regard to fish farming, the project involves the construction and rehabilitation of 150 ponds and their stocking; in particular, small producers will be trained in the farming of Tilapia Nilotica, and the ponds will be surrounded by agroforestry systems that will provide food for families, allow the growth of cash crops and produce feed for the fish. At the same time, they will be irrigated and fertilised by water from the ponds themselves, creating a closed ecosystem with a positive environmental and socio-economic impact. This effort will be further enhanced by technical and managerial support for hatcheries and feed mills in the area. The production of milk and dairy products will also be supported by SAF fields used for fodder crops.
In order to ensure the sustainability of the project, three SAF demonstration fields will be built in three secondary schools and, with the support of the Centre for Innovation, Dissemination and Continuing Education in Agroforestry Systems (CISAF) and in collaboration with the country’s universities, applied research projects on the effectiveness of the SAF model will be carried out.
All activities aimed at improving post-production and marketing processes will then be launched: from the supply of equipment and training for the proper storage of fish and dairy products to training aimed at strengthening the management, entrepreneurial and commercial skills of the milk plant.
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