FAO and WFP Mozambique and Malawi sharing knowledge with workshop participants

Between 9 and 13 November, Mozambique hosted a knowledge sharing workshop with Malawi on the Purchase from Africans for Africa (PAA Africa) programme. The workshop was promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) as well as the governments of both countries.

Programme beneficiaries, FAO and WFP officers as well as representatives of civil society and both governments gathered at the event. For four days, they discussed their own experiences in the harmonization of the agricultural production of smallholder farmers with school feeding in the region.

On the first day, the current situation of PAA in the two countries was presented, leading to a discussion on the simplification of local food purchasing and ways to strengthen collaboration between family farmers and local schools. Also taking part were representatives of the Mozambican ministries of Education and Human Development (MINEDH) and Agriculture and Food Security (MASA). Both ministries are involved in the National School Feeding Programme (PRONAE), a pilot project of the government of Mozambique promoting the local purchase and diversification of food to respond to school feeding priorities, which is being implemented in 12 schools in the provinces of Tete, Gaza, Manica and Nampula.
For Jafar Ali, from the National Directorate of Nutrition and School Health, "the event was a big opportunity for the Mozambican education sector, since managers of the pilot project at all levels (central, provincial, district and schools) attended it. Also, because the farmer associations were there, we all could share our experiences on the product acquisition process and on the food preparation according to pre-defined menus and fund management."

The workshop participants also had the opportunity to go to the field and visit schools benefitting from PAA Mozambique. At Changara Sede Primary School, in the District of Changara, the visitors could share impressions with teachers and members of the school management, as well as with local community leaders. In Chiocomphende, in the community of Carata, they also talked with farmers from a local association that has 15 members, 10 of which are women.

To visit the fields where the food of the programme is grown the group had to cross Luenha river, which allowed them to see that with appropriate support and capacity building it is possible to grow food in remote and drought affected areas. The farmers association provides food to the local schools as part of the activities of PAA Africa.

According to the association's secretary, Bentro Francisco Franque, "with this programme, the association can establish itself and function in a more organized way. We can help and learn from each other. And we have received several capacity building courses, which we wouldn't benefit from was it not for the association. I am benefitting from these opportunities to increase productivity on my land. I hope one day I will become a 'mini-businessman´, an entrepreneur".

The group also visited another PAA Africa beneficiary school, namely Chinhanda Primary School, in the community of Chicôa Nova, Cahora Bassa District. According to the school director, the biggest benefits of the programme have been "the increase of students, as well as their school performance, since they now have at least one daily meal. Moreover, we have created a school garden, from which we can increase the variety of the meals with the food we produce".

Community leader Jaime Bero also showed his satisfaction about the "very close and active" involvement of the community in the school management and decision making, which is made jointly with the director. An example of the strong community involvement is the food preparation, since it is the parents who cook on a voluntary basis. "We are very thankful to see that it is the community who cooks", Jaime Bero said.

For António Rafael, WFP focal point for PAA Africa in Mozambique, the programme plays a determinant role in reaching food security in the communities where it is being implemented, "from both its intervention in school feeding programmes to its capacity building workshops with farmers". An extra value, Rafael added, "lies in the fact that it includes women as an integral part of the process and aims at gender equality".

FAO PAA Africa focal point in Mozambique Felicidade Panguene, in turn, said "the assistance in agrarian techniques given to the farmers within PAA Africa contributed to the good results achieved here in Tete". For Felicidade Panguene, "it was rewarding to see the positive impact of the assistance within the local food purchase programmes on school feeding and on family farmers' revenues".

The workshop ends this Friday (13/11) with several experience sharing sessions on local food purchase, in an effort to identify common challenges, complementary points and opportunities to reach the main objective of promoting food and nutrition security.