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USAID helps smallholder farmers scale up production for food security
Farmers 'Block Up' to Double Profits
Photo: Dercio Matale/Abt Associates
Kota Banade, farmer and manager of Njerenje Agribusiness Center, is working in partnership with USAID to help small farmers access credit, new technology and industry services.
Through block farming, farmers to have doubled their production of sesame and diversified into maize to provide better nutrition for their children
In rural Mozambique, many farmers work on such small plots that generate so little income that they often suffer from high levels of poverty, poor nutrition and are food insecure. In Mozambique‘s Manica Province, USAID is helping small–scale farmers shift from individual, small plots located far away from one another to more organized farming closer together, known as block farming. Block farming parcels up land on individual plots but allows the farmers to grow one particular crop side by side. Producing larger quantities of one crop allows the farmers to be more competitive in pricing and offers them better access to services, such as credit, seeds and new technology.
In 2010, USAID partnered with Njerenje Agribusiness Center, an industry service producer, to help 15 small–scale individual farmers produce sesame on a larger scale through the block farming model on land owned by the Sun Biofuels Company. The initiative was a pilot, but there are now plans to scale it up 10–fold.
But assistance does not end with imparting improved techniques. USAID also helps the farmers develop business plans and teaches them how to negotiate prices successfully and access loans. The assistance is linking the farmers to seed and fertilizer suppliers who are helping to ensure high–quality materials. USAID technical experts are assisting the farmers in managing the plots and introducing them to potential buyers, who are more reputable and provide higher prices.
The first pilot of the block model occurred during the last agricultural season when 15 farmers, who are employees of Sun Biofuels, worked 15 hectares of land. As a result of the intervention, the group earned a total income of around $7,870 on sales of sesame and approximately $3,250 on sales of maize, as compared with the less than $5,000 they made on both crops the prior year working individually.
“This year, we harvested 0.8 tons per hectare compared to 0.4 tons obtained individually in previous years. And despite the fact that there was a drought this year, we still took home more money,” said Mr. Eduardo António, who participated in the block farming.
In the upcoming season the interest in block farming is in high demand by local farmers, who have seen the seeds of good technique and better planning begin to bear fruits.
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