Rosita has been the president of an agricultural association in Mozambique since 2018. In her own words, she shares how training from UP’s project has helped her grow her income and independence, even during the pandemic – and how she wants to pay this forward.
“Over the last three years I’ve held various positions in the agricultural association – head of production, treasurer, vice president and, today, president. I first joined when my sister-in-law invited me, just after I’d separated from my husband. I have five children and I was having great difficulty getting food on the table for everyone.
“The association feels like a family – I was welcomed in and have had incredible opportunities to learn and grow.
“In 2020, because of COVID, no potato seeds were available on the market. Thanks to UP’s ‘Improving food security, nutrition, income and livelihoods for smallholder farmers’ project, we had the knowledge to plant potato seed preserved from last year – and produced a lot of potatoes as a result.
“The project also taught us how to produce seeds through exchange visits with farmers in Naamacha. I have had a lot of success with seed production and harvesting. I am determined to keep learning more about seed multiplication and to share this with my sisters so that they too can become more independent.”
Context: This is part of the regional Food Security Project funded by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and implemented by UP in collaboration with Australian NGO AOP; 2014-2021.