Brazil and U.S. unite to improve

food security in Mozambique

Participants of the trilateral cooperation program discussed how to better implement the project during a meeting held in Brasília.

Partners met to discuss how to better implement the project in Mozambique

Photo: USAID/Isadora Ferreira

On January 27 the partners of the trilateral cooperation program between the U.S., Brazil and Mozambique participated in the first meeting of the program. The meeting happened in the U.S. Embassy in Brasília with representatives from USAID, the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). Representatives from the University of Florida participated through a digital video conference.

During the meeting, the partners discussed how to better implement this project, based on expertise brought by each participant institution. The trilateral cooperation program was launched in January by USAID and ABC, and it aims to improve agriculture and food security in Mozambique. U.S., Brazilian and Mozambican partners will work together to improve the production and distribution of vegetables and the quality of school meals.

The Embrapa team highlighted the demands for training they identified during their field trip to Mozambique. According to their assessment, farmers in Mozambique could benefit from new practices in the production of food, especially the introduction of Brazilian cultivars that are adapted to the tropical climate, and from improvements in the processing of their production. The researchers believe that the way to achieve these improvements is to train technicians from the Mozambican Agricultural Research Institute (IIAM), who could in turn train farmers and small scale producers.

Embrapa researchers also identified problems in the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers and in the irrigation systems, which can be corrected with training. They also expect to improve the distribution of the products to local markets, including schools, which will contribute to increase the quality of meals served to students.

The program is a partnership between the University of Florida, Michigan State University, Embrapa, the National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE) of the Brazilian Ministry of Education, and IIAM.

"This project is an innovation in the way Brazil and the United States work together. This is the first experience of trilateral cooperation dedicated to the promotion of sustainable development involving USAID/Brazil, and we hope this will be a new model of cooperation between the two countries," said USAID Mission Director to Brazil, Denny Robertson. "This initiative will certainly bring positive effects not only for Mozambique, but for the relationship between Brazil and the United States as well".