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Mozambique: Food for thought
Be inspired: Voices from the fields.
Mozambique is vast, stretching more than 2,500 kilometres along the south-east African coast. It is a beautiful country, wild and to a great extent untouched by the kind of rapid development which has marred many landscapes in the south.
On first impressions there is little doubt that Mozambique is desperately poor. Villages are comprised of a cluster of small huts on the roadside, and a lack of public infrastructure means that the mostly rural population often lack running water or electricity in their homes.
The Human Development Index of the UNDP supports this – Mozambique ranks at number 172 from 177 countries on the Index, which takes into account life expectancy, education level and PPP (purchasing power parity). Ireland ranks fifth in this report. It would be interesting to see how figures often fail to tell the whole story – and how what we regard as “development” in Europe is very often far from the needs of the people living in the Global south.
Our trip was specifically focused on getting to know Mozambique's rural farmers, who make up more than 70% of the entire population. Food and agriculture have been back on the international agenda since last year, when the prices of foodstuffs shot up dramatically. We knew the cause of this was partly because there had been increased speculation on international “commodity” markets, for example on “grain futures” - speculating on people's daily bread.
However, we wanted to find out more about what was really happening on the ground in Africa – how farmers there were dealing with these problems, and what they thought the solutions were. Of course for poor farmers in the south, an increase in food prices means a lot more than just grumbling as you hand over the change in the supermarket – it can mean extreme hunger and possible starvation – but even that does not explain the whole story...
In Mozambique, lots of farmers used to produce crops for export – cotton, tobacco, sugar cane and so on. Farmers were convinced by seed companies and other industries to buy the necessary seeds, pesticides and herbicides in one big contract – and the company would come and buy the product back from the farmer at the end of the growing season.
At the same time, the Mozambican state was almost bankrupt, and was forced to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The fund lends money to poor countries that have problems repaying their old debts. When the fund lends money however, it imposes strict conditions on how the borrowing country should manage its economy. In many cases this means opening up the country's markets to tax-free imports, as well as cutting public spending. This is great news for big businesses, as they have low costs and can afford to make things cheaper than native businesses, which simply can't compete. The same is true for agricultural products.
So the farmers, who were using all their land to grow crops for export, were dependent on being paid by the companies who bought their tobacco or cotton. With this money they could buy food, and as they didn't make much they would buy the cheapest food available – often subsidised imports from South Africa or Europe.
Farmers quickly realised that this was not working for them. Often the companies didn't pay well for their cotton or tobacco, partly because they are products which are traded on the stock exchange, so traders speculate on their value. So the farmers in Mozambique began to think of another way of organising and engaging in agriculture.
They decided that Food Sovereignty – taking control of their own food system – was the best way to go forward. Farmers went back to growing food for their families and for local markets. Even if they couldn't make much money, at least they had enough to eat and from then on they could pressure the government to give them what they really need – practical things like storage for their produce, transport infrastructure, simple farm tools and education, animal ploughs and so on.
This is what we found when we arrived – farmers working hard on small plots of land, independent and with the knowledge that they can feed their people and have a good life, if they are given the right kind of help.
They told us that this is happening all over Africa, that farmers are increasingly refusing to grow crops for export and turning back to their real priority – feeding their own communities.
In order for this to work, African countries need to be allowed to manage their own economies in the interests of their own people – protect them from cheap imports, allow them to grow, prosper and above all, feed themselves. This means that the big international institutions and corporations need to keep their hands off – no IMF or World Bank meddling, and no landgrabs by trans-national corporations. Then and only then maybe Africa can fulfil its potential – and feed itself.
This project was funded by the Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund.
Further information on the United Nations Development Programme can be found here.
By Fergal Anderson & Emanuela Russo
