Mozambique

Pesticide sprayer instead of machine gun

Justino Jaime Canda fights only against pests after the civil war.

(Bild: Mango Sound & Film)

For decades, men fought in the bush of Mozambique. The conflict is finally over. Austria is supporting the integration of former guerrilla fighters into society. They receive the knowledge they need to feed their families as farmers. They proudly show off their harvest at a local inspection.

Justino Jaime Canda moves slowly and silently through the dense bush of Mozambique - armed with a machine gun. Every step is a carefully calculated part of his survival plan. Just don't attract attention. One misstep and it could cost the guerrilla fighter his life. This was the 64-year-old's life for decades.

Justino Jaime Canda was a Renamo fighter in the bush of Mozambique

(Bild: Mango Sound & Film)

"When I was 23 years old, I was captured and forced to fight," says the man in a low voice. There was a military base in Sofala province until June 2023. Despite a peace agreement after the end of the civil war in 1992, there were repeated conflicts afterwards. Another peace treaty followed in 2019. Among other things, this decided to integrate the so-called Renamo fighters and the former rebel force was allowed to form a political party.

Dried grass in the fields protects the earth from drought.

(Bild: Mango Sound & Film)

Austria and the EU are also funding the DELPAZ project, which helps former guerrilla fighters to integrate into society. Justino Jaime Canda is part of it.

For decades I was a guerrilla fighter in the bush and lived in huts that we built from leaves and branches. Now I'm a farmer and have a real home with my family for the first time.

Justino Jaime Canda, ehemalige Renamo-Kämpfer

"Now I finally have a home. I can raise our children with my wife," says Justino happily. Thanks to DELPAZ, he now knows how to grow grain, fruit and vegetables. He swapped his machine gun for a pesticide sprayer. "I use a water mixture of soap and garlic to protect our crops from pests."

"A life in peace - that's all people want"
During a visit from Austrian journalists, the small farmers proudly show how they make humus and protect their harvest from periods of drought. They present their harvest at a market. 10 Metical for an avocado - the equivalent of 14 cents. "What the people here want is a life in peace - that's all they want," says Michael Butschek, who was born in Lower Austria and is responsible for the DELPAZ project in Sofala.

Mozambique

• Mozambique is ten times the size of Austria and has a population of 33 million.
• The country is plagued by extreme weather events.
• The average life expectancy is 58.3 years.
• Mozambique is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world.
• Mozambique has been a priority country for Austrian Development Cooperation since 1992. Financial resources of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA): around 35 million euros.

Austria supports the DELPAZ peace project
The Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and the EU are financing the project. With 12 million euros, agricultural knowledge, seeds and equipment can be passed on. Water is pumped from the river and the fields irrigated using energy from photovoltaic systems. Above all, climate change - including droughts and cyclones - is causing problems for the thousands of farmers.

Justino is one of them. And he is grateful: "My only concern is the field - not whether I die in the war."

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA)

Projekt der TU Wien 

Dürre-Warnsystem hilft Mosambik

Under the leadership of Mariette Vreugdenhil, TU Wien has developed a drought early warning system in Mozambique that uses satellite data to prevent crop losses.

"Drought can lead to crop losses, especially if plants don't get enough moisture," explains Mariette Vreugdenhil. "Normally, periods of drought are predicted based on rainfall and temperature measurements. With satellites, however, we can also directly measure the water content in the soil and thus determine whether the roots of the plants have sufficient water available."

Mariette Vreugdenhil is a scientist at TU Wien and analyzes satellite data.

(Bild: Vreugdenhil )

"Sentinel-1, a satellite of the Copernicus program, orbits the earth in about 1.5 hours. It is a radar satellite that sends microwaves with very low energy to earth. We can use the backscattering of the signal to calculate the moisture content of the soil or the properties of the Earth's surface, for example," says Vreugdenhil. "At TU Wien, we have developed algorithms to determine the water content of the soil from the Sentinel-1 observations with an unprecedented resolution."

NGOs pass on knowledge to farmers
The early warning system is not only intended for scientific purposes, but also for practical applications on the ground. "We are working with the Red Cross, the World Food Program and the Ministry of Agriculture in Mozambique," explains Vreugdenhil. "Aid organizations can use the early warning system to identify areas that are at risk of drought. This is particularly useful in Mozambique, where traveling to remote areas can take a long time."

This is what the map looks like with the analyzed satellite data

(Bild: TU Wien)

Farmers in Mozambique can benefit directly from this information. "The agricultural advisors and aid organizations can help farmers prevent crop failures or support them in using alternative seeds. Anything is better than waiting until drought leads to widespread socio-economic damage, such as food insecurity," emphasizes Vreugdenhil. "In some areas of Mozambique, farmers can irrigate their fields when there is not enough rain. However, this is not the case in most African countries."

Thanks to this data, smallholder farmers can better plan the next growing season. The results show us that the measures are working.

Lisa Leitenbauer, ADA-Büroleiterin in Mosambik

Cyclones and climate change plague Mozambique
The need for such systems is underlined by the current weather phenomena in Mozambique. "The country is severely affected by weather and climate-related disasters such as droughts, but also by floods caused by cyclones like "Idai" in 2019. Since then, the country has been hit by 19 more tropical storms," reports Vreugdenhil. "In addition, we expect more frequent flash droughts, which can develop much faster than normal droughts. The El Niño climate phenomenon can also have a major impact on climate risks in Mozambique."

"The project is currently focusing on selected districts in the provinces of Inhambane and Sofala. In the long term, the drought early warning system is to be made available throughout Mozambique," explains Lisa Leitenbauer, Head of ADA's Mozambique office. Austria is financing the system with 468,000 euros.

The drought early warning system thus represents an important step towards supporting agricultural production and mitigating the effects of extreme climatic events in Mozambique.

This trip was partly financed by the ADA.