Mozambique

Town and Country Culture

I visited Mozambique twice in 2011.  I was working with a couple of agricultural supply companies, exploring ways to grow their businesses.  These projccts were part of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Farmer-to-Farmer program that were organized through Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs (cnfa.org).  Below are some photos I took during my travels around the country.

A typical farm house.

A farm in a dry area.

Doing laundry and bathing in the river.

Selling carrots on the roadside.

The Chimio town market.

Barber shop.

Hauling empty cans for water.

Mozambique suffers from an HIV/AIDS infection rate of approximately 13% in adults.  That leaves a lot of orphans.

The fishing boats.

Dugout sailboat.

A faster sailing boat.

returning from a day on the water.

The fish.

A larger boat under construction.

Time-proven construction.

Indian Ocean shells.

Kids in town.

Checkers.

Photo op.

Selling clay pots.

One of the seed shops I worked with.

Inside a seed and agricultural supply store.

With Mr. Dengo, wholesale seed supplier, and some of this customers.

Agricultural produce outside a supply store.

Another Agricultural shop.  We visited a lot of shops to explore new marketing channels.

What it's all about.

Young shoe salesmen.

Selling roasted corn.

Bird nests.

An ant hill.

Fun at the water well.

Pigeon house.

The clay bricks for most houses are made on-site.

Making concrete blocks.

A fabric shop.

Bales of used clothing from overseas being sold out of a truck.

Wall art. "AIDS has no chance" reads the blackboard (in Portuguese).

Wall art.

"Youth for Change and Action"

  

Mozambique is a developing country with many people still displaced by a civil war that left the countryside littered with active land mines.  As a result, there is much agricultural land that is underutilized as farming families fled to the towns.  Today, access to quality seeds and fertilizer is one of the weakest link in the economic chain, so the focus of my projects were on improving local agri-businesses supply chain.

I made a short video with some of my Mozambique photos and arranged with the song "Little Boxes" by Malvina Reynolds.  The orginal song mocks the conformity of affluent middle class America with their privileged lifestyle of universities, good jobs, and leisure.  Most people in the developing world would gladly accept those opportunities.  We should all be grateful for what we have.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JbFYMODgdM

 

My photos of Mozambique Small Business Ideas.

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