MIRAR Resiliency Report by landolakesinc

From Early Recovery to Resiliency Reflections on Implementing & Adapting the USAID OFDA Mozambique Integrated Recovery and Resilience Program (MIRAR) 2019-2020

This report was made possible with support from the American people delivered through the U.S. Agency for International Development. The contents are the responsibility of Land O'Lakes Venture37 and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of USAID or the U.S. Government. 1

Mozambique & Cyclone Idai Mozambique is the third most vulnerable country in Africa to disaster risks.1 When Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall in the Beira Corridor of Mozambique in March 2019, the impact was catastrophic. Strong winds and intense flooding severely affected smallholder farmers and vulnerable households just before the harvest season. Many households lost their crops, seed storage and other livelihood assets, like livestock, that were critical for their household’s food security. It’s estimated that in Mozambique, over 500,000 hectares of crops2 were lost and that there was $773 million in damage to buildings, infrastructure and crops3. Land O’Lakes Venture37 has been working in Mozambique since 2008, improving resiliency of resource poor households with climate smart agriculture and re-establishing the dairy sector. With two projects affected in Mozambique by Cyclone Idai (MERCADO with USDA and RAMA-BC with USAID Feed the Future), Venture37 saw firsthand the damage and food insecurity that barreled through the country after Cyclone Idai – and how it affected our staff and the people and businesses they support.

UN’s Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction

FAO in Emergencies: Cyclone Idai in Mozambique

IOM UN Migration Mozambique Cyclone Idai Situation Report #3, 04-08 April 2019

Focus on Recovery + Resiliency The USAID/OFDA early stage recovery Mozambique Integrated Recovery and Resilience project (MIRAR) was an 11-month project with the goal of distributing and facilitating access to seeds to give affected households short-term food security following Cylone Idai in the Manica and Sofala provinces of Mozambique, ultimately reaching over 15,000 households. In August 2019, four months after Cyclone Idai, the average food self-sufficiency for households was 2.6 months. Without intervention, food security in Mozambique would continued to deteriorate after Cyclone Idai, particularly if households did not have resources to prepare for the next growing season. As a response to the emergency in the early stage of recovery, Venture37 worked with USAID/OFDA to have the Mozambique Integrated Recovery and Resilience Project (MIRAR) operational within two weeks. The goal of the 11-month project was to give affected households short-term food security by facilitating access to seeds. MIRAR reached 15,000 households and increased food self-sufficiency to an estimated 7.8 months. One of the reasons MIRAR was successful in achieving its goals was Venture37â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to leverage relationships and technical expertise from two other projects in the region. Internal infrastructure as well as established connections with the private sector enabled Venture37 to move quickly and efficiently.

Key Aspects that lead to Resiliency

There were three key elements to how MIRAR was structured that lead to greater resiliency of the targeted communities:

1 2 3 2

We were able to adequately resource for the size and scale needed for the project at hand. This required adaptive management and intentional strategic planning. The design was able to be adapted to meet the true needs of the individuals and communities by complementing seed distribution with technical knowledge and coordinating with local entities. This also meant managing recovery without disruption by working through local market actors. Perhaps most importantly, MIRAR was able to leverage the simultaneous presence of the RAMA-BC and MERCADO programs to enhance private sector linkages and sustain the impact of the project, including infrastructure, local knowledge, seed partner relationships and sound technical guidance. This in turn, has allowed participants to more easily adapt and be ready for future shocks.

Land O’Lakes Venture37: History of our work in Mozambique Land O’Lakes Venture37 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping communities around the world build economies by strengthening local agriculture, helping agribusinesses create jobs and linking farmers to markets. Since 1981, we have implemented over 315 integrated dairy, livestock and crop development programs in nearly 80 countries. Our long-standing affiliation with Land O’Lakes, Inc.— one of America’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives, with nearly 100 years of expertise in dairy, animal nutrition, crop inputs and agricultural insights and technologies—sets us apart. Land O’Lakes, Inc. supports Venture37 projects as part of its enterprise purpose of ‘Feeding Human Progress’ at home and around the world. Venture37 started working in Mozambique in 2008 and continues today, on a range of programs in the dairy and agriculture sectors. MIRAR was implemented with technical assistance from another Venture37-led project called the USAID Feed the Future Resilient Agricultural Markets Activity – Beira Corridor (RAMA-BC). RAMABC has an overarching goal of equitably increasing agricultural productivity and weather resilience by increasing adoption of resilient agricultural technologies and practices in Mozambique. The USDA Mozambique Expansion of Rural Cattle and Dairy Opportunities (MERCADO) Project also helped bolster MIRAR’s impact due to the fact that the MERCADO project had coverage in many provinces affected by Cyclone Idai and created linkages with the local, provincial and national governments for Venture37 as a trusted partner. Venture37’s ongoing work and relationships in Mozambique helped create linkages that have better served the MIRAR project, its farmer households and the private sector and agrodealers of Mozambique.

MIRAR at a glance • Targets met/exceeded (number of people benefitting and number of months of household food self-sufficiency) • Agile start-up (two weeks from award) • Adaptive management throughout • Leveraged long-term linkages and relationships with private sector seed companies, local governments and others, leading to longer-term sustainability 3

By the num ber s with Based on average consumption of households,

MIRAR-ASSISTED HOUSEHOLDS CAN EXPECT TO HAVE HOUSEHOLD FOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOR 7.8 MONTHS

MIRAR interventions are expected to achieve an average yield of 388.9 kg per household. This will create food sellf-sufficiency for 7.8 months compared to 2.8 months without intervention. In Sri

focus

2011, two years after the civil war ended, the USAID Lanka BIZ+ project, implemented by Land O’Lakes Venture37 (formerly Land O’Lakes International Development), began working with communities affected by the war. The project introduced and enhanced livelihood and job opportunities across country to promote economic vitality through support to small- and medium-sized enterprises BIZ+ partnered with SMEs across Sri Lanka and expanded to work with additional businesses and on new geographic regions.

The

program’s facilitative approach included SME

most the (SMEs).

t h e MI RAR Pr o j e c t : 15,000 FARMER HOUSEHOLDS RECEIVED 7105 METRIC TONS OF LOCAL MAIZE, COWPEA, PIGEON PEA AND CANAVALIA SEEDS Seed types were chosen for many reasons, including helping to differentiate planting cycles to stagger yields of crops, adding dietary diversity and diverse nutrient bases, and using crops that are locally-known. By widening the group of crops distributed to households and staggering when each crop would mature, this could further reduce hunger gaps.

Approximately 94,800 beneficiaries reached (133% of target) 50,244 of these people who benefitted were female

In this next section, we will dive deeper into the three key aspects of resiliency through the MIRAR project: Right-sized Resourcing, Adaptive Design, and Sustainability Through Long-term Linkages.

Right-sizing the Resourcing For Venture37, two key pieces of resourcing were important: getting the right amount of people to lead and manage the project, while also being able to get the project implemented as quickly as possible. Time was of the essence: In an early-recovery project, there is little time to spend getting into an office, setting up equipment or making relationships. To ensure food security for affected farmers and communities, seeds needed to be distributed before the growing seasons and discussions about private sector partnerships needed to commence. One element that made this adaptive management possible was to right size the resources. We were able to utilize the already-existing space and technical expertise of the USAID RAMA-BC program. This allowed the MIRAR program to function with only two full-time staff in Mozambique, brought in from the RAMA-BC project. One of these staff members, the Project Manager, was strategically brought on because they had a strong technical background, were familiar with the districts to work in, were already known within the Venture37 team, were comfortable with the ongoing office processes, and had existing relationships with government and community leaders. This eased the startup process and the need for training new personnel. The small team was effectively supporte by both the regional resources and by the headquarters Venture37 Minnesota team â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for program management, finance, and monitoring, learning and evaluation needs throughout the length of the project.

Design & Adaptation

Through any project or activity, thoughtful design needs to be in harmony with meeting the local needs effectively. MIRAR was no different in this regard. ADAPTATIONS TO TARGETING: COMMUNITIES > HOUSEHOLDS With the technical expertise and first-hand knowledge of our ongoing Mozambique presence, MIRAR was able to find ways to target what should be targeted and to provide benefit to where it was needed most at the time. The original implementation design for MIRAR was going to target specific households – the most vulnerable households. It was revised to target all households within the impacted communities in defined localities, informed by provincial governments and the UN Coordinating Committee. With support of USAID/OFDA, this revised targeting allowed Venture37 to more equally distribute within a focused community, reduce risk for project staff to seem like they were ‘choosing recipients’ and ultimately created more affordable logistics to distribute within the region. This allowed MIRAR to work through the food systems on the community level rather than only within households. TECHNICAL EXPERTISE AND PRIVATE SECTOR LINKAGES Initially, MIRAR did not formally include technical assistance. However, efforts were still made by project staff and by linkages to the RAMA-BC program to help assist farmers. One of these efforts was to include Seed Planting Pamphlets with the delivered seeds, to assist farmers in knowing when and how to plant the seeds properly. In coordination with the RAMA-BC project seeds were delivered to MIRAR households through local agrodealers and private sector partner input suppliers to further establish a supply chain that could continue after the MIRAR intervention concluded. This was done to address constraints in the input market system and to facilitate easy access of seeds to affected farmer households. By the end of the MIRAR project, many input suppliers declared that they were happy working with the agrodealers because they were able to reach more communities in a shorter amount of time. The input suppliers are looking to continue building on these market linkages in the future. They established demonstration plots for farmers to better link them with seed suppliers, agrodealers and farming communities and also discussed farming best practices. 8

Leaflet included in MIRAR Seed Packs:

COORDINATION OF IMPLEMENTATION In-country coordination bolstered adequate targeting of regions that needed intervention. MIRARâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interventions were mindfully reworked to coordinate with the government and with other NGOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the area, during a disrupted time, without distorting local markets. Venture37 coordinated with local government and NGOs to avoid overlapping with other seed distribution efforts, and Venture37 participated in national-level integration on targeting. MIRAR also met with each Chief of Locality to diplomatically get buy-in to our approach and targeting. After our baseline assessment, MIRAR resisted the pressure from other NGOs to change our target regions, knowing that the most vulnerable communities therein truly did need this intervention. MIRAR also discussed with another Venture37 project MERCADO, about which districts and regions were already under coordination from the National Institute of Disaster Management. There was local knowledge to be gained by working with MERCADO, a dairy project, though MIRAR was working in a different sector altogether. We were able to work on the provincial level of districts to see which areas were affected and where we would not be duplicating efforts with other organizations. 9

Sustainability through continuation of long-term relationships

MIRAR’s approach toward sustainability was rooted in creating linkages between the targeted communities, seed suppliers (through partnerships with RAMA-BC) and the government services. Though MIRAR was implemented as an early recovery program with the goal to help farmers with immediate food security needs, Venture37 would be remiss to not simultaneously work toward a greater mission to improve capacity of farmers and create market systems resiliency. MIRAR provided local, openly pollinated seed varieties that would diversify diets at home, help to improve the soil’s health and manage weeds and pests, that also had staggered harvesting times. This staggered approach to the seed varieties is one of the key reasons that the household food self-sufficiency was estimated to increase by five months on average. This was accomplished through linking to important work that was already being done through the RAMA-BC program – partnering with seed and input providers and providing pragmatic technical expertise to farmers. By matching the technical agricultural expertise of RAMA-BC with the needs of the MIRAR project, Venture37 was able to provide communities with locallyknown seeds that would mature at different times, therefore increasing food security. The seeds themselves were supplied by private sector input suppliers like Phoenix Seeds, which already had partnerships with RAMA-BC and reportedly have mostly adopted RAMA-BC resilient agriculture technology packages, which include mixed-cropping inputs and extension services. They delivered seeds to MIRAR beneficiaries through local agrodealers as a strategy to further bolster the existing agricultural supply chains that will continue after the MIRAR intervention concludes, increasing resiliency to future shocks.

The techniques and farming practices taught to farmers included topics like intercropping maize and legumes, number of seeds per plants, and plant spacing. RAMA-BC will continue to provide further technical advice with farmers through the demonstration plots, as well as strengthen linkages between farmers, agrodealers and public extension services. The fact that RAMA-BC will continue to work in almost all villages assisted by MIRAR will allow continued assistance on cropping techniques and practices (including about Canavalia seeds). RAMA-BC will increase resiliency of MIRAR communities by strengthening linkages between inputs suppliers, government services and farmers by organizing seed fairs, inviting agrodealers to meet farmers, and exchanging contacts. Furthermore, this will help the affected Mozambican farmers through additional seasons beyond the MIRAR project. Venture37 will be able to understand a more long-term picture of the effects of Cyclone Idai and the effects of MIRARâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts because of additional data we will capture in the coming year.

Looking to the future Infrastructure is integral to sustainability. Through transferring beneficiaries from this early recovery program of MIRAR to the RAMABC program, the MIRAR project was able to not only deepen the impact on food security in Mozambique, but also help households move along the continuum from recovery to resiliency. For Venture37, our pride in our work is not only whether it achieved targets, but also if it worked toward building a more sustainable agricultural system.

“I feel alive now because I could prepare food for my family from my work,” says Helena Noe, who lost her entire maize crop in the devastation from Cyclone Idai. She was relying on food donations from other nonprofits to feed her family for months. For Helena, the seed kit she received from MIRAR meant a lot because she no longer needed to rely on food donations. She could back to her daily activities of farming – making her family self-sufficient once again.