Economy
Mozambique has shown promising economic growth since the end of the civil conflict in 1992 but it is still among the poorest countries in the world. Approximately eighty percent of its people live on less than one dollar per day. People living in and around Gorongosa National Park are especially poor and physically isolated from the country's main urban centers, where most employment opportunities reside. Almost all are farmers. The soil isn't fertile and precipitation varies dramatically throughout the year and between years.
The people grow maize, sorghum, beans, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, various greens, cassava, and taro root. They also plant many kinds of fruit trees--including banana, papaya, pineapple, and mango. They raise goats, pigs, chickens, and guinea hens. They sell some produce, cotton, and livestock for cash. They also sell charcoal and honey along the main roads.
Besides working long hours in their fields, they spend much of the day collecting firewood and walking long distances to fetch water for cooking and cleaning. Some people still hunt, fish, and gather wild plants for food and medicine, but such traditional subsistence activity is declining as more people try to enter Mozambique's expanding market economy.
Education opportunities are also limited. Most schools in the area are mud huts with classes of 50 or more sharing a single blackboard usually with no tables, chairs, schoolbooks, or even pencils and paper. Students typically walk miles every day to attend morning or afternoon lessons. Some families can't afford to send all their children to school, so many girls are asked to stay home and help with family chores.
The local economy is further constrained by inadequate health care. Very few people have access to a clinic and even fewer to a doctor or trained nurse. They do benefit by making use of a wide variety of traditional medicines gathered from local plants.
Ecotourism projects fuel local economies. 
This program in Nhanguo helps families improve their standard of living.