Rural Income Growth

USAID’s rural income program in Mozambique assists poor rural households to increase their incomes and to improve their food security and nutrition. This is accomplished through the provision of technical assistance and training to: (1) increase farmers' productivity, sales, and income; (2) expand rural enterprises by ensuring access to financing and trade opportunities; and (3) improve market access for farmers and rural enterprises through road rehabilitation, construction, and maintenance.

Some examples of the types of activities that USAID engages in under this program are:

• USAID is delivering financial and technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (“MADER”) during this inception year of phase two of the multi-donor agricultural reform program (“ProAgri II”). ProAgri II is intended to be a five year agriculture reform initiative. USAID's assistance is ensuring that ProAgri II’s operational plan is designed and implemented to foster improvements in national-level agricultural policies as well as economically viable agricultural research and extension services.

• USAID's Global Development Alliance with the Cooperative League of the USA (CLUSA) established the first producer-owned trading company in Mozambique. The project is increasing the farm-based incomes of the company's members, in part by helping the farmers and enterprises gain access to dependable markets and capital. The partnership includes similar producer-owned trading companies in Zambia to promote regional impact. USAID is also awarding a grant in 2005 to deliver business development services to farmers associations and rural enterprises. Specifically, the technical assistance will include training in marketing and management skills with the primary goals of reducing production costs increasing revenues.

• USAID is implementing the new Rural Finance Program and anticipates transferring development assistance funds to the Development Credit Authority to further open the private banking sector to rural lending. For more information on rural finance services see www.cpsfr.org.mz.

• USAID is providing technical assistance and training in support of a road maintenance concession for the USAID-rehabilitated Caia-Gorongossa all-weather road completed in 2003. USAID is also expanding the tertiary road network to the "Beira Corridor" which runs from the city of Beira to the western border. The program will create opportunities for the local private sector to take full advantage of the area's economic growth potential. Finally, USAID is introducing a new technology for road construction, the "emulsion technique," that will improve the quality of Mozambican roads and reduce the costs of maintenance.

• USAID is helping Mozambican researchers apply science and technology to remove the constraints faced by Mozambican farmers. In support of the President’s Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA), USAID is building the capacity of the National Agricultural Research Institute and advising on efforts to decentralize authorities and responsibilities to two zonal research centers. USAID is providing technical assistance and equipment to the zonal research centers to bring the benefits of newly adapted technologies to farmers. USAID is also adapting two new agricultural technologies in 2005.

• In response to the numerous natural and manmade disasters that rural Mozambican families face, USAID is providing technical assistance to the National Secretariat for Agriculture and Nutrition (SETSAN). With the technical assistance, the Secretariat will provide the Government of Mozambique, USAID, and other donors with risk assessment and food security data on a constant basis to allow for quick responses to any emergency situation.

By the end of this program, USAID will have significantly increased the incomes of rural households in target areas, decreased the incidence of stunting among children USAID is reaching, increased the number of months of food security in target areas, and improved market access for farmers and rural enterprises.