Possibilities of agriculture development: The use of animal traction and fertilizer in Angonia, Mozambique

Abstract

In Mozambique around 8,1 million people suffer from undernourishment. Agriculture is the source of food which can solve this problem. In 2008 the veterinary faculty of Maputo designed a project and jointly implemented this with the IIAM (Instituto Investigação Agrária de Moçambique) in Angonia, Mozambique. The focus of this project was the use of animal traction (AT) and the use of fertilizer. The objective was to increase development in agriculture activities. The use of animal traction can increase the living standards of the farmers. The time saved gives the farmers extra income by working in another sector. The children do not have to work on the field and can go to school. Also the animals and the implement (plough or cart) can be lent to other farmers which can give an extra income. The food security is higher in the households using AT. The poverty level indicated by the amount of different species is lower for the people using AT, which means they have lower living standards than the farmers using AT. A major constraint using animal traction is money, because the farmers have to save for quite some time before they are able to make this long term investment. Using fertilizer gives a highly significant difference in the farmers that use it. When fertilizer is used 33 $ per hectare can be gained. There are some disadvantages of using this product because the nitrogen can harm the environment and gives the farmers annual costs.