In 2023, ADPP Mozambique reached the remarkable milestone of 8 million beneficiaries through its transformative initiatives in Quality Education, Health and Welfare, Agriculture and Sustainable Development, Clothing and Humanitarian Aid actions. This significant impact reflects the organisation's commitment to promoting sustainable development and improving the quality of life of Mozambican communities.
Speaking to the press, ADPP's executive director, Birgit Holm, expressed optimism and satisfaction with the positive results achieved during the financial year, which give stability and confidence to the outlook for the ongoing work.
‘Our conviction is that in order to create and maintain peace and prosperity in the country we need to produce food; we also need dedicated people who look after the sick and children and we also need trained teachers who pass on knowledge that changes the lives of children and young people, and in short, we need strong and cohesive institutions. It is in this context that ADPP Mozambique, always side by side with the communities, implements its projects based on a holistic people-to-people approach,’ she emphasised.
According to the figures released by ADPP, more than 400,000 people have benefited from the various projects in the field of education. A significant milestone was the training of 25,000 teachers over 30 years in the Schools for Teachers of the Future (EPFs). In addition, 16,000 children and young people with disabilities have been reached through educational programmes, and around 3,000 displaced young people in Cabo Delgado have been trained through vocational courses.
In 2023, the organisation continued its efforts to improve the health and well-being of Mozambicans by continuing projects to improve nutrition and combat HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. In Nampula province, the Transform Nutrition project has directly reached more than one million pregnant and breastfeeding women, adolescent girls and children with nutrition and hygiene interventions.
In the fight against malaria, more than 1 million insecticide-treated fly nets were distributed in 15 districts of Niassa province. In the fight against TB, the Local TB Response project reached 1.9 million people with information and TB screening in four provinces. Through six projects focused on HIV, the Organisation reached more than 600,000 people with literacy and support on HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health.
The same report indicates that the response in agriculture, the Organisation adopted, as always, the farmers' clubs approach transferring skills to small-scale farmers to transform agriculture into sustainable agriculture, increasing productivity, resilience and consequently their income. It should be noted that 163 farmers' clubs made up of 50 members each and co-operatives have been trained in sustainable agriculture and fishing.
José Chiburre, Partnership Officer for Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment, said that despite the support of the government and its partners, agriculture still faces many challenges characterised by low production and productivity. These challenges, exacerbated by climate change, make the situation of farmers, citizens and producers increasingly complicated.
‘In response to these challenges, we at ADPP are trying to intercept these challenges by empowering small-scale producers and transforming what is traditional agriculture into sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture, thereby increasing productivity and, at all costs, teaching methods for communities to be resilient to the impacts of climate change with a focus on increasing their income through a livelihood approach, which is the approach of producers’ clubs that puts producers and their families at the centre of change and development,’ said Chiburre.
It should be noted that these results were released during the launch of the 2023 annual report, highlighting the significant progress made and reinforcing the organisation's commitment to sustainable development and improving the living conditions of the communities covered by ADPP's projects