Parque Nacional da Gorongosa Moçambique

Organic Agriculture in Gorongosa

May 8, 2008 - Gorongosa National Park

by Carlitos Sunza
Communications Department/GNP

Mr. Jongue chose this agricultural method in order to significantly increase the output and agricultural productivity of his farm so that he could guarantee his ability to provide food for his family and to generate income to satisfy the other core needs of his family.
 
He also uses this method in order to avoid depleting the soils of his farm so that he is able to work the farm and maintain the same level of production from year to year, unlike his neighbors who use fires in order to clean their cultivated fields.  These neighbors use a farming methodology that leads to the rapid impoverishment of soils and that consequently forces the farmers open new fields in other places after only two to four growing seasons, when the old fields cease to produce as needed.

Mr. Jongue says that this system of production is founded on the techniques of on crop rotation and green fertilization and on maintaining the structure and depth of the soils.

“I use one very simple technique, but get better agricultural income. This technique consists of using the remains of the plants from one growing season as fertilizer for the plants of the next growing season. For example, if one year I plant corn, when I harvest the corn, I leave the stalks in the field in rows two meters apart, and then I sow the seeds of the next crop in between these rows.  It is because of this technique that my fields have black soil whereas the soil of my neighbors’ farms have red soil.”

“If a farm is managed using sustainable agriculture techniques, it produces well for a long time, longer than when other techniques are used.  For example, when fire is used to clean the fields, those fields produce for a maximum of five years.  After these five years, the farmer must abandon these fields because they cannot produce sufficiently to meet the needs of the farmer.”
 
Jongue João is thankful for the sustainable agricultural practices that he learned on a trip to the city of Chimoio and to the Sussundenga district in Manica Province.  In the 15 years since he has adopted these practices on his farm, he has been able to obtain better agricultural results.

Mr. Jongue says that, during the first year of implementing the new techniques, he tested them on only one part of his farm. When he saw that this technique produced good results – the soils in this part of his farm where he had introduced the new form of cultivation always conserved moisture, which allowed continuous cycles of diverse crops – he expanded this method to his entire farm.

Mr. Jongue says that he always creates a fire-break around his entire farm when the dry season approaches to prevent the spread of fires that his neighbor farmers use to clear their fields.

On the farm we visited, which is located along the margins of the Nhandar river and is about a hectare and a half in size, Mr. Jongue explained that he has a minimum harvest of a ton of maize and also undisclosed amounts of peanut, tomato and other farm products in each growing season. The farm’s produce feeds his family and is also sold to contribute to the family’s income.

João Jongue, who is 70 years of age, married, father to nine children, and grandfather to 12 grandsons, explained that he had purchased his land from another farmer who had sold it to him for 150,00MT (one hundred and fifty meticais) in the 1990s, moments after the signing of the General Agreements of Peace that ended the 16 years of civil war involving the Mozambican Government under the direction of the Frelimo Party and Renamo.

In the meantime, the managers of Gorongosa National Park have come to collaborate with farmers in order to persuade other farmers of the region to adopt the same sustainable agricultural techniques and to abandon the methods that degrade the land.  In particular, these efforts are being made in the area around Mount Gorongosa, where numerous trees are destroyed annually through agricultural techniques that are not sustainable for the environment. The deforestation of Mount Gorongosa, if not stopped, will soon result in the disappearance of the forests as well as enormous damage to the lives of the people who live on this mountain.
 
Jongue João thinks of himself as part of the Mozambican Government’s “Green Revolution,” a strategy to fight hunger, promote food security in Mozambique, and reduce dependence on food imports by increasing domestic food production in the agricultural sector in order to satisfy its food needs. 

Agriculture is one of the most basic sectors of Mozambique’s economy and good examples like Mr. Jongue’s will pave the way to its sustainable development.