Arone Tucutiana, representing Traditional authority of Mangunde Village

Toronga village in Mangunde administrative area is one of the most interior villages in the Chibabava district. For years, like other regions in the province, farmers used traditional seeds with reduced germination vigor. This agricultural practice, especially in cereals and vegetables production, was synonymous with low yields and, hence, low marketable surplus. When the use of improved seeds became popular, these inputs became scarce as gold, explained Arone Tucutiana, a representative of Mangunde’s leader.

“Farming families had to move to distant cities. In other words, seeds were as rare as gold. AFAP and its partners did something extraordinary for farming families,” said Tucutiana.

Isaias Mateus Joaquim runs Toronga’s supply shop. He said that before he committed to AFAP, he had been selling small quantities of seeds that were not enough for everyone.

“I have been running this business since 1997, not selling large quantities. I was afraid of buying many seeds and finding seeds with little germination power because there was no guarantee or refunds. Today, with the support from Food security through climate Adaption and Resilience (FAR), the situation has improved for many families”.

Toronga’s Agribusiness Association owns the shop managed by Joaquim. He guarantees that most of the more than 6000 farming families will buy from his shop. In addition to selling agricultural inputs, he promises to transfer the technologies he learned with AFAP’s support.

Editor’s notes:

African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP): AFAP has supported smallholder farmers and pastoralists to access improved inputs (seeds, fertilizer, crop protection products and animal-health products) and technologies for increased agricultural and livestock production as well as output markets for surplus production. The objective is to improve food security and smallholder farmers’ incomes by facilitating agricultural development in Mozambique. This is being achieved by adopting improved production technologies and effective output marketing to identify market opportunities. AFAP’s interventions through a market-systems approach aim to make inputs accessible and affordable.

Food security through climate Adaptation and Resilience in Mozambique (FAR): The FAR project’s main objective is to improve food security and resilience to climate change shocks smallholder farmer households.