Disability Inclusive Agriculture and Health Development

Amongst them are three hundred people with disabilities caused by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as leprosy, lymphatic filariasis and konzo.

The aim

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.

There are three strands to the project:

• Promoting conservation agriculture.
• Developing a healthcare approach that helps people with different NTDs in a joined-up way.
• Developing the knowledge of self-help groups.

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.

What are we doing?

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.

How can you help

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.