As population grows into the rural and peri-urban areas surrounding the city, environmental impacts from food production are increasing, including devastation of mangrove areas and an increase in food waste in markets.

The Municipality of Quelimane launched two initiative in collaboration with the municipality of Milan. Quelimane Limpa promotes the use of compost to improve the quality and quantity of urban agriculture harvests; Quelimane Agricola contributes to sustainable rural development by strengthening the local agricultural markets and supply chains. Within the latter, the city supports food production in small fields owned by family households using only organic fertilizers. Within the project “Quelimane Limpa” food waste is collected from 11 markets within the municipality and transformed into compost. The compost is then distributed to 140 gardens (from micro to small-medium farms) growing different types of vegetables and food crops.

The use of organic material as fertilizer allows for a general increase in the yields of the gardens, translating into higher incomes for families and improving soil fertility. Furthermore, families are switching from fishing to agriculture as their main source of income. This helps restore marine life, which was threatened by intensive over-fishing. Communities are now also helping the city to replant mangroves, thus promoting biodiversity as they switch from their old style of earning a living to practicing smart agriculture

Photo by Ricardo IV Tamayo on Unsplash