Building sustainability in rural Mozambique
Reducing the need for humanitarian assistance one step at a time
Visiting the small village of Chipapi, tucked away in Mozambique’s rural Tete province, one can understand why the torturous heat — routinely above 40 degrees Celsius during the day — and the clogging dust are not as burning as the desire for long-awaited rains.
The rains will come, and when they do, the community will be ready to save what they need of them thanks to a newly-built dam, reservoir and water tank — a gift from the American people through USAID’s Food for Peace .
Two years ago, searing drought devastated this community of 150 people. The abnormal dry spell, compounded by El Niño, turned the local river to dust and scorched the earth, ruining pastures and gardens, and forcing residents to forage for food. Malnutrition rates soared.
Since her husband passed away five years ago, Magdalena Amone has raised her four youngest children and 11 grandchildren alone. She spends her days collecting tree seeds — which can be poisonous if not cooked properly — that she pounds, boils and serves to the children as a porridge, having added the seed shells - traditionally an animal feed.
After a series of climate disasters, the community decided it needed a dam and a water tank, and to set aside some land for drought-resistant crops like sweet potato. Some 130 people were chosen to participate in the project, including female heads of household like Magdalena. All received food rations of maize meal, beans and vegetable oil to sustain their families though the construction period.
The long hours of digging and building under the hot sun have been well rewarded: a dam, a reservoir and sweet potatoes planted in cleared bush.
In June, the community celebrated its first harvest of sweet potatoes, distributed to households headed by women. Other villagers received seeds to sow in their own gardens.
“For the first time in a very long time, I didn’t have to go begging for food in neighboring communities, or feed my children tree seeds. It felt good,” says Magdalena.
She and others dug a three meter-deep trench for the water tank, covered it with concrete and attached piping.
“We chose to put the fresh water tank in the school yard so that children could have easy access to it,” she says. “We also started a vegetable garden at the school so they could learn how to plant drought-resistant food. Sweet potato is so much sturdier than maize, which dies without regular watering.
It was hard work, but our spirits were high and we were encouraged by the food given to us by the World Food Programme.”
As Magdalena and her fellow villagers wait for rain to wet their lands and fill the reservoir and water tank so they can grow enough to feed themselves, they recall a time when the weather was predictable. But thanks to the fruits of their labour, they are ready to cope with another dry season.
The World Food Programme (WFP) provides food assistance to some 150,000 people in Tete province to help them cope with the negative effects of climate shocks. Resilience-building initiatives like the dam, water tank and school garden in Chipapi village enable the most vulnerable to meet their food needs, strengthen their livelihoods and reduce the risk of disasters.
Read more about WFP’s work in Mozambique
Read more about WFP’s Food Assistance for Assets
