In the Ile and Lugela districts of Zambézia Province, Mozambique, there are around one thousand impoverished smallholder farmers living in fifty communities.
Amongst them are three hundred people with disabilities caused by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as leprosy, lymphatic filariasis and konzo.
Working in partnership with Netherlands Leprosy Relief (NLR) and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), we aim to increase the income of the smallholders who live in Ile and Lugela through increased agricultural productivity.
The project will take an innovative approach of introducing conservation agriculture development from a disability-inclusive perspective. It will help people make the move from being members of a self-help group focused on rehabilitation to members of a group learning to become self-sufficient. The ultimate goal is that people should become smallholder farmers.
Self-help groups will be supported to organise themselves in farmers’ organisations, with training in sustainable farming techniques, better nutrition and health awareness.
The project also aims to increase awareness of human rights so that community members can speak up for themselves on obtaining better health and agricultural services.
We will work with NRL and ADRA to provide technical expertise in terms of project monitoring and evaluation.
We will also ensure that experience from the project is shared between the partners. As part of this process we will organise exchange visits between the Mozambique project team and our team in Bangladesh.
With your support we can help even more people affected by leprosy to overcome this disease. A gift of £28 can fund the set-up of a new self-help group, enabling more people to support each other and regain their independence.