The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Mozambican government on Friday launched a project promoting “nutrition-sensitive agriculture” in Mozambique.
The three-year project aims to strengthen the capacity of small farmers to adopt sustainable practices for nutrition-sensitive agricultural production in the northern and southern provinces of the country, according to an FAO statement distributed to the media on Friday.
The project, budgeted at US$2 million (€1.6 million) and called “Increasing Water Productivity for Sustainable Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Production and Improved Food Security” will also be introduced in Rwanda, Benin, Niger, Egypt and Jordan.
“More than ever, we need innovative solutions, intelligent and systemic action and solid partnerships to produce more and produce better, bringing the food we need so much into the homes of Mozambican families,” said FAO representative Hernâni Coelho da Silva during the initiative’s virtual launch ceremony.
The project will be developed by the FAO in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Official data estimate that 43% of children up to five years of age in Mozambique face chronic malnutrition. Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country, is worst affected, with an incidence of more than 50%, and the capital, Maputo, the best performer.
