Increasing Mozambique's food production and nutrition security

The Nuffic Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) awarded a project grant to Maastricht School of Management (MSM) and its partners to start the project “Promoting resource smart green technologies in technical professional and higher education, to increase Mozambique’s food production and nutrition security” in January 2020.

In this Mozambique based project MSM will work together with Polytechnic Institute of Braganca (IPB), University of Lisbon – School of Agriculture (ISA), CITAVERDE bedrijfsopleidingen, Q-Point B.V., CESO Consultancy and Delphy B.V.. Instituto Superior Politécnico de Manica (ISPM), Instituto de investigação Agrária de Moçambique (IIAM) and Instituto Médio Técnico-Profissional Agrário de Chimoio (IMTPAC) are the beneficiaries of the project.

Through the project a Centre for Innovation and Resource-Smart Green Technologies in Manica (Chimoio) attached to ISPM will be established. Here Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Higher Education (HE), research institutions, public and private sector will partner to facilitate innovations, knowledge and skill sharing. This will be based on demonstrations of the benefits of resource-smart green technologies for different customer segments, best practice exchange, resource sharing and joint programs. This with the aim on increasing access for young people and smallholder farmers to skills training and employment creation.

The model farms and post-harvest technologies that will be established at ISPM will be targeting different customer segments, from low tech innovative resource smart green technologies/practices up to more advanced investments in a greenhouse and controlled cultivation practices and its benefits. Following good practices in Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia farm plots will be assigned for students to apply lessons learned in their own experimental plot for their incubation projects as part of the curricula. Also Female talent programmes at partner institutions ISPM, IMTPAC and IIAM as part of their policies and procedures to ensure an environment which is gender sensitive are included in the project.

Furthermore, the project will help link students who want to start an enterprise with farmers and service providers who have knowledge, skills and practices through the mentorship program. Students from ISPM and IMTPAC and SME’s/smallholder farmers will learn from the demonstration farm plots with low-tech up to advanced green technologies. Lead farmers attached to the Centre for Innovation and Resource-Smart Green Technologies will be trained and train colleague farmers on resource-smart green practices and sustainable business models. The aim is also to train extension agents on hands on skills through the centre.

The project will be directed by Dr. Diederik de Boer, Director International Projects and Consultancies and coordinated by Carel Jaspers, Director at Q-Point. The project will run from January 2020 until December 2021.

Nuffic Orange Knowledge Programme
The Orange Knowledge Programme is a €195-m Dutch global development programme, available in 53 developing countries and managed by Nuffic, a Dutch non-profit organisation for internationalisation in education. Launched mid-2017, it aims to have provided tens of thousands with the possibility to change their future through education and training by mid-2022.