Showing how to handle seedlings in a nursery ©FAO/ Marta Barroso

15 October 2021, Gúruè (Zambézia) – The Sustainable Agriculture Fair, held on Friday in Gúruè, Zambézia province, by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), reminded of a tour through the Organization´s work areas within PROMOVE Agribiz project: from seeds of biofortified varieties, exhibitions of quality agricultural inputs and the graft of crop seedlings from a nursery through the presentation of a solar-powered water pump with a drip irrigation system, the practical exemplification of the concepts of polyculture and conservation agriculture on the basis of carrots, beetroot, tomatoes and maize, the tour ended with a tasting of several courses made with highly nutritious food.

With this fair, FAO aimed at disseminating knowledge and technology promoted within a training of master trainers in participatory extension methodologies, which ends on Saturday (16.10.), as well as at informing both farmers and partners about PROMOVE Agribiz activities and sensitize about World Food Day, which is also commemorated this Saturday and marks the creation of FAO in 1945.

In his opening speech at the ceremony that followed the fair, PROMOVE Agribiz FAO Coordinator Dario Cipolla renewed the project´s commitment to "keep supporting the Government of Mozambique and smallholder farmers so that, together, we can reach better production, better nutrition, better environment and better lives, leaving no one behind".

Regarding the graduation of the 29 master trainers, which took place during the ceremony, Gúruè District Permanent Secretary Elton Humberto de Sá, who attended the event representing the District Administrator, highlighted it as "a significant milestone for the promotion of sustainable food security, nutrition and market-oriented agriculture", hoping that the newly graduated trainers now have "the necessary tools to apply the acquired knowledge in the communities".

Those tools, training participant Júlia Morais says, are "experiential learning tools that foster the communities´ self-development, increasing productivity and decreasing food insecurity through sustainable agriculture", precisely the ones she wishes to apply in her future work as FAO technician.

PROMOVE Agribiz is co-financed by the European Union (EU), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and FAO, and is co-implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, FAO, the Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) of the World Bank and the National Sustainable Development Fund (FNDS). The project aims at contributing to an increase in smallholders´ food security and resilience, creating jobs and a basis for inclusive economic growth, while stimulating rural competitiveness in the provinces of Nampula and Zambézia. It is one of a set of programmes financed by the European Development Fund (EDF) as part of a comprehensive approach to rural development in both provinces.