Mery Tembe, 59, lives with her husband and two children and has been a member of the Gogoza farming group in Ponta de Ouro since 2023. She divides her time between looking after the house and farming.
Mery says that, before taking part in the Kuvikela project, she felt sacrificed because farming was the only alternative she could rely on to support her family, but she had no idea how to improve productivity in her poor, very sandy soils without spending a lot of money.
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When she found out about the agricultural component led by ADRA Mozambique in the Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change initiative in the Maputo Environmental Protection Area, Kuvikela (which means "prevent" in the local language) decided to take the plunge, although she was initially reluctant to do so, and says that she has learned many techniques that have had a positive impact on her ability to produce: "..... now I know how to produce more with this land: now I don't use manure, I put it in a localized way in the pit where I sow and I also protect it with grass to keep it moist for longer. Now my produce can feed my family and I can even sell it."
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Mery also says that the community fairs for the sale of agricultural products that the project has promoted have been a great lever for connecting the members of her farming group to the local market for agricultural products: ".... I, for example, didn't have the habit of growing yoke beans, but today I produce and sell them, and I get up to 1000 Mt per fair. The money I earn is saved in the Rotating Savings and Credit (PCR) group and generates 10% of profit at the end of the cycle, allowing me to pay for some major expenses such as children's school fees and to buy those agricultural inputs not provided by the project."
Kuvikela is being implemented in 20 communities in the Matutuine district (Zitundo, Machangulo and Bela vista administrative posts) and in 3 communities in the KaNyaka Municipal district. The five (05) year project is funded by the @BAF and has been implemented since July 2022 through a consortium led by the @Peace Parks Foundation, in partnership with @ADRA (@ADRA Mozambique and @ADRA Deutschland e.V.), @Livaningo, @AMA-Associacao do Meio Ambiente and @Centro Terra Viva (CTV), and has already reached 3,076 people (2193 women and 883 men) out of the 6305 expected.
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