Resource

Vegetable and Fruit Processing – Mozambique

Farmer-to-Farmer is a USAID-funded initiative, which sends American agricultural/agribusiness experts to developing countries to offer technical assistance to our host organizations. These trips are volunteer-based, but all trip-related expenses are covered by CNFA, and typically last between two and three weeks.

ASSIGNMENT

Associação Simucai Kwaedza, meaning “wake up, the day has dawned”, is a 16-member farmer association (6 women), located about 100 kilometers from Beira, Mozambique. Founded in 2008, Associação Simucai Kwaedza has 48 hectares in production (vegetables, sesame, legumes, and cereal crops), both for household consumption and sale at market.

In order to build on last year’s success, Associação Simucai Kwaedza seeks a F2F Volunteer to help improve post-harvest handling. The Volunteer will help to develop a plan for procuring necessary equipment for processing and packaging of vegetables, while also leading trainings on best practices for post-harvest handling, loss prevention, and value added products.

DESIRED IMPACTS

  • Improved knowledge of post-harvest handling and value addition for vegetables.
  • Increased understanding of equipment necessary for processing/packaging of vegetables.
  • Increase in members’ profits due to higher quality/quantity of produce available for sale.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experienced in post-harvest handling and loss prevention.

• Expert in vegetable processing/packing for smallholder farmers.

• Willingness to work for a week or more in rural Mozambique.

• Must be citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.