Silver Spring, Maryland—In the coastal region of Mozambique, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is improving food access for more than 100,000 rural Mozambicans through a three-year income generation project that will increase crop sales and productivity, improve health and nutrition, create better access to clean water and sanitation facilities, and strengthen communities' resilience to disaster situations within the targeted regions.

Titled Osanzaya Zambezia, or "Make Zambezia Happy" in the Lomue language, this project will increase food availability and raise incomes in the districts of Mocuba, Maganja da Costa, Ile, Pebane, and Lugela in coastal Zambezia province. ADRA expects to help 60,000 people increase agricultural production and extend access to health care, nutrition, and water and sanitation services to 62,000. At present, some 22,000 beneficiaries are enrolled in the health and agricultural components of this project. ADRA will also train communities in Maganja da Costa, Pebane, Mocuba, and Namacurra to better respond to local disasters. This project, scheduled to end in July of 2011, is financed by a $12 million grant from the Unites States Agency for International Development (USAID) Title II program and a $1 million match from ADRA International.

Through the income generation component, ADRA is establishing and strengthening local farmers groups and associations, and training farmers in improved production techniques, business skills, marketing, and literacy. ADRA is also working to increase household incomes by promoting the use of higher quality seeds, focusing more attention on crops with a higher profitability margin, improving marketing communications systems and maximizing retention of crop yields through improved post harvest methods, including handling, processing and storage.

Osanzaya Zambezia will also unable young children to receive improved nutrition and health services by instituting and strengthening community health councils, recruiting and training community health volunteers, establishing health and nutrition communication groups, and using these methods to promote positive health messages and practices, such as growth monitoring, hygiene, diet diversification, food preparation, breast-feeding, and disease prevention techniques.

Through its focus on promoting good hygiene practices, and increasing access to potable water by constructing water filters and rehabilitating hand-pumps and hand-dug wells, ADRA will improve the health and nutrition of entire communities, aiming to increase the number of caregivers who utilize correct hand washing behavior by 40 percent. ADRA is also training community members to maintain the newly constructed and rehabilitated community water points, while improving overall sanitation through the construction of pit latrines that will be used for both household and public use.

To help communities become better prepared for disasters, such as droughts, floods, and cyclones, the program will also increase disaster early warning and response systems in participating communities, train community risk management committees in disaster preparedness, and provide disaster mitigation kits as part of a comprehensive effort to strengthen their capacities in disaster management.

ADRA is working in partnership with Samaritan's Purse, a U.S. -based nondenominational relief organization, which will conduct water and sanitation activities, and provide training in community resiliency and capacity building. In addition, ADRA is collaborating with Ajuda de Desenvolvimiento de Povo para Povo (ADPP) Mozambique, a local organization that will help improve crop production, and provide business skills training and adult literacy for farmers.

Mozambique is considered one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 172nd out of the 177 countries, according to the 2007/2008 Human Development Index. Recurring natural disasters have caused severe damage to the nation's infrastructure, stunting economic growth, and crippling attempts to achieve food security.

Currently, some 540,600 people are chronically food insecure in the central and southern regions of Mozambique, while an additional 302,000 are considered acutely food insecure, according to an April and May 2008 USAID assessment.

ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race, or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.

Author: Nadia McGill

Media Contact: John Torres, Senior Public Relations Manager, ADRA International 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 Phone: 301.680.6357 E-mail: Media.Inquiries@adra.org