Maputo, Mozambique

Feb 24, 2010

We love the energy of Maputo. It's the good kind of energy where we never felt like people were trying to hustle us like in the tourist traps of Arusha and Zanzibar, Tanzania. We also felt safe to wander in the evenings unlike in Nairobi, Kenya or Johannesburg, South Africa where we would jump into cabs after evening meetings (or linger in the suburbs). Maputo's vibrant, entrepreneurial, positive, and alive. It reminded us of Kampala, Uganda...

Maputo, Mozambique

Feb 17, 2010

Cross posted from Nourishing the Planet. Check out the most recent issue of the journal Science which takes a look at ways to improve food security as the world's population is expected to top 9 billion by 2050. To best nourish both people and the planet, the journal suggests a rounded approach to a worldwide agricultural revolution by encouraging diets and policies that emphasize local and sustainable food production, along with the implemen...

Maputo, Mozambique

Feb 16, 2010

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is holding the third global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum this week in Rome, Italy. The Forum—which brings together more than 70 farmers groups from around the world—is an opportunity for IFAD and other groups to learn firsthand, from farmers, the challenges they face in the field. On Saturday, the Forum held a workshop to discuss the unique challenges faced by women farmers. Wo...

Maputo, Mozambique

Feb 11, 2010

In Maputo, Mozambique I had the opportunity to sit in on a workshop organized by Prolinnova, the Spanish NGO Centro de Iniciativas para la Cooperación/Batá, and the National Farmers Union of Mozambique, UNAC, about different agricultural innovations. But the farmers weren’t there to be trained by the NGOs. Instead, they were in Maputo to share their experiences and learn from each other about different innovations each farmer was practicin...

Maputo, Mozambique

Feb 9, 2010

Madyo Couto has a tough job. He works under the Mozambique Ministry of Tourism to help manage the country’s Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs). These areas were initially established to help conserve and protect wildlife, but they’re now evolving to include other uses of land that aren’t specifically for conservation. Madyo explained that in addition to linking the communities that live near or in conservation areas to the private...