BACKGROUND

The youth in Cabo Delgado are facing significant economic and social challenges due to recent natural and man-made disasters which culminated in a lack of economic opportunities, reduced access to skills development, lack of community experience and disruption in information and public services. Violence led to displacement of 400,000 internally displaced peoples, abandonment of farms by villagers, and the destruction of Cyclone Kenneth wiped away harvests. The two issues combined have led to crisis level food insecurity and have put unprecedented burdens on young women and men, many of whom are still dependent on food aid. The unemployment rate in Mozambique is very high at 25%, for the displaced youth, challenges are even greater. Being excluded from economic opportunities, they have less of a chance to develop job skills and to build a family and a future for themselves.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The USAID Community Resilience and Youth Empowerment in Cabo Delgado program will improve technical skills, employment interventions and integration into the agricultural value  chain with inputs  and life  changing irrigation tools  to  grow  fruits  and vegetables  and attain  food security, improve productivity and income faced by people in five districts namely  Chiure, Montepuez, Macomia, Mueda and Metuge. This program will achieve livelihood opportunities for the youth by using Associação ActionAid Moçambique (AAMoz) proven methodologies to train young women and men on relevant job skills for employment such as carpentry, plumbing, electricity, mechanics, will expose them to potential job opportunities and provide them with starter kits for self-employment.To support farmers in creating viable livelihoods, implementing partner will introduce MoneyMaker Starter Pump an innovative irrigation technology durable and easy-to-use and train farmers to move from rain-fed subsistence farming to highly profitable commercial farming—grow and sell high value fruits/vegetables year-round, survive droughts and re-plant quickly after floods.
These districts were selected due to high levels of needs and vulnerability after Cyclone Kenneth, rapidly growing violence from extremist groups and the large number of internally displaced peoples. The program will be delivered in partnership with Associação Actionaid Moçambique, which has extensive experience working in Cabo Delgado and will complement USAID’s existing  disaster risk reduction (DRR) programs that build the capacity of communities to respond to future shocks.  

EXPECTED RESULTS AND IMPACTS

The expected results of the project are:

 

  • 7,500 youth farmers will be trained on how to use pumps, on Climate Resilient Smart Agriculture (CRSA) and Agripreneurship will also be supplied by Associação Actionaid Moçambique (AAMoz) with starter farm inputs.
  • 2,500 MoneyMaker irrigation pumps which will be distributed to a total of 7,500 youth farmers
  • Local communities and participating families will be trained on market demand led Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) leading to formal/self-employment
  • 300,000 project beneficiaries and stakeholders in Cabo Delgado to access mobile-based information on agricultural productivity and disaster preparedness in target areas.