Helping a developing African nation reduce hunger and create economic opportunity is a job for not one— or even two—but three equal partners. Michigan State University’s Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics is a key part of a unique triad working to improve agriculture and food security in Mozambique.

Specialists from the U.S. and Brazil joined forces with Mozambique’s Ministry of Agriculture and its National Agricultural Research Institute in 2011 to improve productivity and marketing of fresh produce in the country. Led by scholars from MSU and the University of Florida—who were instrumental in securing a $7.9 million U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) award—this innovative trilateral approach is the first such “trilateral” effort and is seen as a potential model for similar USAID efforts with Brazil and other emerging economies.

Benefits of Partnership
The trilateral approach combines the best expertise in the U.S. and Brazil with the local  nowledge and expertise of scientists in Mozambique to address problems in a more effective way. Brazil has a rapidly developing agricultural economy with climate and soil conditions similar to those in Mozambique, and Portuguese is the official language of both countries.
 

According to MSU Professor David Tschirley, the project capitalized on Brazil’s experience  eveloping technology for tropical climates and extending that to its own small farmers, while utilizing University of Florida and MSU’s long experience converting “mere expertise” into  development results on the ground. Each entity is learning from the other, creating a positive exchange of information and ideas.

“Over time, I’ve come to appreciate the actual value of diversity in many different settings. We’ve talked about diversity in the US for a long time—whether it’s ethnic or racial or gender diversity. People from different backgrounds bring different abilities or different perspectives that bounce
off each other, and rub up against each other leading you to new types of insights,” said Tschirley.

Projects like this perpetuate MSU’s world-grant legacy for solving challenging problems across the globe. Information gained through these projects helps to inform Michigan’s agricultural producers, open new markets and can lead to new farming approaches that ultimately benefit
Michigan residents and producers, according to Tschirley.

“Though our focus is on results in Mozambique, the fact is that a positive relationship with a rapidly-growing economy like Brazil is good for U.S. national interests,” said Tschirley.“ Brazil has plenty of small, resource-poor farmers, but they also have some of the largest and most
modern farms, and some of the best scientists, in the world. By working with Brazil, human relationships evolve and change. Our international relationships change as well. This
can be the start of a more collaborative relationship on a number of fronts that benefits both parties,” he said.

The immediate impact
MSU and University of Florida are also collaborating with Brazil’s National Fund for Educational Development and the ministries of education and health in Mozambique to pilot an innovative school feeding program that relies on local farmers for much of its food supply and provides
them with training and access to technology to satisfy this new market. The objective is for this pilot activity to provide guidance to the design of the national school feeding program that Mozambique wishes to implement.

Located on the southeast coast of the African continent, Mozambique is a country of about 23 million people and remains one of the world’s poorest nations with malnutrition a widespread problem. Major food crops there include corn, cassava, beans, peanuts and sorghum. Vegetable production is now expanding rapidly, to feed burgeoning urban populations.
 

Though the country has made great strides over the past decade there is still much poverty to combat. Tschirley said that Mozambique has made insufficient progress in recent years in terms of agricultural productivity growth and as a result, needs to increase its investment in small, and
emerging commercial farmers to meet its food needs and reduce poverty.
 

For more information regarding MSU’s Agriculture, Food and Resources Economics department, see http://www.aec.msu.edu/.