The EMPRENDA Story

1
USAIDFROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Financiamento/Funding
Mozambique
2005-2008
EMPOWERING PRIVATE ENTERPRISE IN
THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Introduction
In January 2005, three NGOs working in Mozambique joined forces, with the intention
of increasing the per capita income of families in rural areas. TechnoServe Inc.,
CLUSA and ACDI/VOCA all brought with them significant experience in the creation of
sustainable and competitive rural enterprises, but the challenges which continued to
face the rural population of Mozambique convinced all
three companies that a different approach was needed.
The EMPRENDA alliance was formed to promote
cooperation between the NGOs, smallhold farmers’
associations and larger-scale rural enterprises, to target
specific value chains and create market linkages in the
central and northern provinces of the country. In the
Beira and Nacala Corridors, especial attention was
directed towards fruit and horticulture, confectionary
nuts and field crops, identified as areas of high potential
for Mozambican businesses. Since then, the TechnoServe
office in Maputo has served as headquarters for
EMPRENDA activities in Chimoio and Nampula, where
TechnoServe has collaborated with ACDI/VOCA and CLUSA respectively, sharing office-
space and ideas on how to achieve common objectives. The project has seen a
transformation in agricultural sub-sectors, assisting clients to increase their sales
from $4 million1 by the end of 2004, to $12 million by the end of 2007, and towards an
estimated $16 million by the end of 2008. In the Nacala Corridor, the programme has
witnessed the revival of a once thriving cashew nut industry, whilst in Manica, the
birth of tropical fruit production has kickstarted a nationwide initiative to increase
Mozambique’s productive capacity and its global marketshare. Clients have mobilized
almost $26,000,000 of finance over four years, allowing individuals the means to
overcome various obstacles in their efforts to exploit Mozambique’s vast potential. In
the midst of these changes, TechnoServe, CLUSA and ACDI/VOCA have played an
important role as facilitators, designing business development strategies and
providing technical assistance for their clients. At the heart of the programme remains
the central objective of improving the livelihoods of the rural poor, increasing
opportunities for all by developing sustainable businesses in rural areas, creating
employment and providing a reliable source of income for workers. This approach has
allowed beneficiaries to entertain hopes for the future, to advance beyond subsistence
work, to send their children to school and to believe in their own potential to, perhaps
one day, become entrepreneurs themselves.
2
1 Estimated baseline taken from the initial EMPRENDA proposal (2004)

The Partners
TechnoServe is a US-based nonprofit organization founded in
1968, with a mission to help reduce poverty by working with
rural entrepreneurs in the creation of competitive and sustainable business in the developing
world. TechnoServe helps create jobs and raise incomes by designing and implementing
competitive business strategies for enterprises whose positions within high-potential value
chains provide growth and employment opportunities in their respective communities. The
company is composed of permanent employees, from both native and foreign backgrounds,
with experience in finance, management and agribusinesses, as well as temporary volunteer
consultants (VolCons) leveraged from some of the world’s leading corporations, including
McKinsey & co., Cargill, and Young & Rubicam. Before engaging in the EMPRENDA
programme, TechnoServe had already accumulated significant experience in Mozambique’s
revitalized cashew processing industry, as well as in its emerging horticulture sector. Its
existing clients would prove invaluable as links in the value chains envisioned by EMPRENDA,
providing markets for smallholders and supplying the impetus necessary to expand
Mozambican business both within and beyond its own borders.
ACDI/VOCA is a private international development and consulting
corporation founded in 1963 to promote economic opportunities
for cooperatives, businesses and communities through the
innovative application of sound business practises. It provides
advisory services in several areas, including agricultural systems,
enterprise development, and financial services. In October 2001 it launched a project to
Reinforce Business for Rural Development (RENDER) in Manica, intended to increase rural
incomes by helping motivated farmers to form member-owned associations. Such an initiative
was essential in the building of economies of scale, increasing marketing power and
facilitating business contracting in Mozambique’s agricultural sector. ACDI/VOCA’s experience
in working with smallholders paved the path for EMPRENDA’s work in the Beira Corridor,
where it was able to encourage increased production levels, improve quality control and boost
the availability of market information, allowing smallholders to gain access to more profitable
markets both internal and international.
Founded in 1916, the Cooperative League of the USA (CLUSA), now
doing business as the National Cooperative Business Association
(NCBA), is the oldest national cooperative development and
cooperative membership association in the USA. CLUSA provides
technical assistance to cooperatives, farmers’ groups, micro-
enterprise organizations, and village level associations in the
developing world. The organization was brought to Mozambique in 1995, where it now works
with associations in 15 districts across 3 different provinces. Leading EMPRENDA efforts to
integrate farmer associations into national and international markets, CLUSA’s activities have
helped to strengthen producer organizations, improve farm productivity and enhance farmer
capacity to influence the agricultural policy environment. Its contributions to the programme
are crucial, and include training for farmers in production, business management, functional
literacy and numeracy, auditing, market assessment and development of high value crops.
3

Mozambique
Mozambique has made substantial progress since the end of the Mozambican Civil
War (1976-1992), averaging economic growth of 8% since 2000, with a high of 12% in
2003. Much of this growth has been propelled by foreign-financed “mega-projects”, as
investors begin to take notice of the economic potential of the country, and aid-inflows,
which account for 70% of the government budget. There are nevertheless major
difficulties facing potential entrepreneurs Mozambique, which has been ranked 134th
in a study comparing 178 economies according to ease of doing business.2 For those
who can overcome those difficulties, the opportunities are boundless.
The EMPRENDA alliance was formed in order to find solutions to the various obstacles
facing rural entrepreneurs, and from the beginning it decided to focus on the three
value chains with the highest potential for growth.
• HORTICULTURE: With 550,000 hectares of land available for
horticulture production in the Beira Corridor, and an ideal climate
for growing vegetables and tropical fruits, Mozambican farmers
should be able to capitalize on a significant domestic market, and
an ever-growing international one.
•FIELD CROPS: EMPRENDA initiatives have helped to introduce
diverse field crops into the country, including white sesame from
Nicaragua and castor seeds from Brazil. Growing soybeans has
become an important part of an emerging poultry value-chain,
lowering the costs of chicken feed which was previously imported
into the country.
• CONFECTIONARY NUTS: Before the civil war, Mozambique was
the single largest exporter of cashew nuts in the world, and the
revival of the cashew industry has been one of the country’s
biggest success stories. EMPRENDA has been at the heart of the
effort, not only supporting cashew production and processing,
but encouraging diversification into the Macadamia and
Groundnuts industries.
•FORESTRY: Since 2006, EMPRENDA has been working with a
fourth value chain, identified in a recent study as a potential $10
billion/year industry to be developed over the following decades.3
With 3-7 million hectares of potential space for forest plantations,
a socially and environmentally responsible approach could turn
this sector into one of the most profitable in the country.
4
2 www.doingbusiness.org
3 Juma Juma, TechnoServe Deputy Country Director, TechnoServe Conference (10th and 11th of July 2008).

For centuries before the arrival of the
Portuguese, Sofala was the most important port
of Southern Africa, attracting merchants from
India and the Middle East dealing in cloth, spices
and gold. Today, the most important port in the
region is Beira, and the merchants are of a
different sort. Travelling into the interior is not
an unusual strategy for buyers looking for cheap
goods, especially when those goods can be
purchased from smallholders at a highly reduced
price. The distance from Beira to Machipanda, on
the Zimbabwean border, is only 200km, and it is
sometimes considered cost-effective to drive to more remote districts, where farmers
have little access to market information, in order to gain the upper hand in
bargaining. Often, a smallholder will have been waiting at an improvised storage
facility for days, hoping for a chance sale to provide him and his association with the
only income forthcoming over that production cycle. When a buyer appears, it is
considered a stroke of good luck, leaving farmers with very little leverage with which
to bargain for better prices. The result is that prices at the farm gate remain very low,
even when the same goods are being sold for much higher prices further along the
value chain, generating disproportionate profits for the middleman. The challenge is
to organize farmers and facilitate their access to information, ensuring their capacity
to demand fair prices. A higher and more consistent income would allow farmers to
invest further in their work, to gain access to finance, to turn out higher volumes of
better quality produce, and to improve their livelihoods.
Smallholders’ Associations
A large majority of Mozambique’s rural population
engages in subsistence farming, planting only what
must be consumed in order to survive. Surplus
production may fetch an additional income at a local
market, but significant changes to a farmer’s quality of
life can only be achieved if produce is grown
commercially, in volumes substantial enough to attract interest from urban or
international buyers. ACDI/VOCA has been working with farmers in the Beira Corridor
since 2001, forming smallholder associations, where farmers cooperate on a large
stretch of land and share the profits from sales, to promote collaborative and business-
minded production. The challenges are numerous: farmers must be shown how to
plant in an orderly and systematic fashion; they must be educated on the benefits of
planting more than they need for their own survival, and solutions must be found to
various agricultural challenges, from acquiring seeds to setting up irrigation systems.
To respond to these challenges, ACDI/VOCA has set up a network of trained Technical
Assistants, each with an area of responsibility consisting of 15-20 associations, who
help farmers cultivate crops through all stages of the production process. Significant
progress has also been made in legally registering the associations, giving them the
5
The Beira Corridor

official status they need to perform basic functions, including applying for finance and
forming higher-tier associations. In the last quarter of EMPRENDA’s second year,
SIWAMA was formed: a second-tier association with the aim of providing closer
linkages with input suppliers, financial institutions and research. In 2007, it was
recognized as an NGO by the Mozambican government, and if it continues its good
work selling seed and finding markets for farmers’ produce, it should be able to
achieve its long-term goal of becoming a fully fledged agribusiness entity. As such, it
would use its members as outgrowers, transporting produce by its own means and
using profits to invest in improvements such as irrigation systems, transport facilities,
fertilizers, better quality seeds, and storage facilities.
Kufuma Ishungo
When ACDI/VOCA first began working with Kufuma
Ishungo, an association located near the Zimbabwean
border, only one crop of vegetable products was
harvested over the course of a year. Crops were
planted in a haphazard manner around the land, and
the little available space was not being used to its full
potential. Quality control was virtually non-existent, and the farmers showed limited
discernment in their choice and use of seeds and fertilizers. Today, crops are planted in
orderly rows, and there is even a nursery where young and fragile plants are
cultivated before being transplanted to the farm proper. Under the EMPRENDA
programme, the association has begun planting on a rotational basis, switching
between vegetable products and soybeans depending on the season. Soybeans are sold
to Abilio Antunes, a large-scale poultry producer and TechnoServe client located in
Manica province, who replaces expensive imported soybean cake with the local
product, significantly lowering his production costs in the process. The twenty-odd
farmers who work at Kufuma Ishungo have thus been enabled to participate in two
value chains, with a guaranteed buyer on at least one side of the equation. An
EMPRENDA-initiated deal between SIWAMA and Logistica, a company interested in
sourcing fruits and vegetables from six client associations, would have guaranteed a
buyer for horticultural products as well, had not Logistica pulled out due to lack of
finance. Despite this setback, association farmers have been enabled to negotiate a
fairer deal for themselves regardless, since the introduction of TradeNet in 2007,
which helped to overcome the communications barrier between smallholders and the
Beira market. Association leaders, with EMPRENDA advice and assistance, have
invested in mobile phones and can communicate with other associations and partners
at the ports to discover the price of a commodity on a particular day.
Notwithstanding these advancements, the challenges facing the Kufuma Ishungo
association remain numerous and difficult to overcome. There is as of yet no irrigation
system at the farm, and for a period of two months in the summer, farmers struggle to
cultivate crops which would otherwise fetch a high off-season price. The high price of
seeds and fertilizers (as well as their low availability) sometimes compel farmers to
walk across the border to Zimbabwe to acquire necessary materials, bringing them
back through circuitous routes in their pockets. Access to finance is scarce, and the
banks have not yet begun accepting applications from farmer associations.
6

Companhia De Vanduzi
When the EMPRENDA alliance began work with Cia. de Vanduzi in January of 2005,
the company had been forced to halt production for six months, as part of a strategic
decision to reassess its product line, target more attractive markets and test niche
products. By the end of the year, with EMPRENDA assistance, it had reorganized its
management structure and begun working with smallholders, on whose behalf a
proposal for $150,000 was sent to USAID, intended to
improve irrigation canals and horticulture production
in the area where the company now functions.
Throughout the following years, Vanduzi would sign
contracts with associations, providing them with
inputs for horticulture production, and buying their
produce for export to European markets. Throughout
2006, smallholders accounted for 2% of processed
products at Cia. de Vanduzi, especially baby corn and
fresh chillies, but the relationship was hard to
maintain due to misunderstandings and the numerous limitations affecting smallhold
farmers. Today, there are still a couple of smallholders’ associations working as
outgrowers for Vanduzi, but the real success lies with the company itself, which
exports around 35 tonnes of horticulture products a week, with a return of $2.6 million
last year, and expenditure on salaries of almost $600,000.
The Mango Farmers’ Group
The Mango Farmers’ Group is our name for the
entrepreneurs who, since 2005, have approached the
EMPRENDA alliance with a wish to set up their own
mango farms. All of them are self-financed and
otherwise employed, dealing in the mango business
during their spare time, and contracting farm
managers to care for crops whilst they are engaged.
Mike Scott’s mango production farm, EAM, is perhaps
most central to this project, having established itself as the first initiative in the
sector, with access to marketing facilities abroad and a great record in community
development. The commercial tree grafting nursery on his site, founded in 2005, has
been an important training ground for farmers wishing to graft mangos with export
qualities (such as Tommy Atkins, Keith, Kent, and Sensation), and its success has
inspired the inauguration of another nursery, which, as of this year, will be at full
capacity to provide seedlings for mango farmers in the region. This initiative and
others, representing a $48,000 investment made in 2007 alone, have visibly resulted
an emerging industry, in which EAM functions as a major commercial farm,
supporting four emerging out-growers in the surrounding area. The success of the
industry, moreover, cannot be disputed, given the latest and largest export of mangoes
to South Africa, which altogether amounted to 500 tonnes. Despite this success,
farmers have been working hard to clear further land, intending to diversify into litchi
and pineapple, both of which have been confirmed as profitable crops to be planted in
the region.
7

Until 1898, the Island of Mozambique was the
capital of Portuguese East Africa, located 3
kilometres off the eastern coast of Nampula
province. When the capital moved to Lourenço
Marques (Maputo) in the south, the fortunes of
the north declined drastically, and today the
inhabitants of the northern provinces suffer from
the lowest adult literacy rates in the country and
account for less than one fifth of the Gross
National Product. The area’s main industry
suffered a similar fate over the course of the
Mozambican Civil War. As late as the 1960s,
Mozambique was responsible for half of the world’s cashew, with production peaking
on the eve of independence at an excess of 200,000 tonnes per year. By the late 1990s,
virtually all large, mechanized factories had closed down and an estimated
7,000-10,000 workers found themselves out of a job.4 In 2001, TechnoServe began work
towards the revitalization the industry, completing a feasibility study and supplying
entrepreneurs with the expertise to open new cashew processing factories in the
region. Since 2002, when Antonio Miranda’s factory in Namige first became functional,
24 more factories have begun processing cashew, and the industry has become one of
the country’s success stories, providing employment and boosting local economies.
EMPRENDA’s work with cashew has focussed on a large section of the value chain, not
only providing assistance to processors, but supporting smallhold farmers’ associations
in the trial-plantation and further cultivation of cashew trees. Intercropping has
become common practise amongst farmer associations, who now produce sesame,
cowpeas and groundnuts as well as cashew for a growing market.
The Cashew Processing
Industry
Once Miranda established his first cashew processing
factory in Namige, it was not long before other
entrepreneurs followed suit. The employment
opportunities generated by the initiative were key to
EMPRENDA’s efforts in the sector, and the results are
beginning to show. Extra cash has ensured the
development of micro-economies around the factories, as opportunists open small
shops, bars and cantinas, and the local population are showing real desire to gain
access to the consumer goods which they can now afford, from basic necessities, like
medicines and mosquito nets, to luxury items like radios.
Turning cashew processing into a successful industry has been a complicated process,
and entrepreneurs have often had to invest time and effort to find the resources
needed to establish a reliable business for themselves. Finance is scarce, quality
8
4 Brad Paul, “Factories in the Field: Rural Transformation and the Organization of Work in Mozambique’s
Cashew Triangle”, 2008.
The Nacala Corridor

control is difficult to enforce, and the machinery needed to produce significant volumes
of quality cashew is expensive. In 2004, a TechnoServe employee discovered a butterfly
infestation in a factory owned by Condor Caju lda., and quickly advised the owner to
treat all bags in stock with insecticides. The precaution rapidly recovered production
and probably saved the factory from going out of business. Since then, the same
advisor has promoted the purchase of humidification chambers, which makes cashew
peels brittle, allowing workers to remove them at a much higher rate without having
to use a knife. Factory owners have rapidly understood how these, and other measures
like staff training, can increase productivity and quality, guaranteeing customer
satisfaction and, perhaps more importantly, loyalty.
In 2005, TechnoServe representatives together with other
high-profile guests, including Mozambican President
Guebuza, the U.S. ambassador, and the director of USAID,
attended the launch of “Zambique”, a confectionary nuts
brand sourcing from client factories with a common
standard of quality. Zambique cashew nuts have a
guaranteed buyer in Europe, and although factory-owners
sell outside the brand to other buyers, the approach is
preferred because of the good relationship it creates
between the supplier and his client. As processors in other
countries default on more and more cashew exports, it is hoped that AIA, the company
responsible for marketing cashew for associated factory owners, can capitalize on the
reliable supply of Mozambican cashew nuts like Zambique, to attract buyers into
sourcing from Mozambique on a priority basis.
Employment and the Minimum Wage
Although paying wages to factory
workers may seem basic practise to
those accustomed to employment
and social security, it is not always
so easy to find funds for wages and
still turn a profit. The margin of
profit for factory owners in the
cashew processing industry has
remained consistently tight, since
costs must be divided between
workers’ wages, the purchase of raw
materials (unprocessed cashew), machinery, and the maintenance of factory
conditions, including facilities for the workers themselves. In 2008, TechnoServe
collaborated with factory owners in an effort to lobby government officials, requesting
that the wage of factory workers be determined according to their productivity.. On the
2nd of May, the government passed a law defining the sector as “agro-industry”,
lowering then official minimum wage to 1350MTN/month, and allowing the factories
to remain open, to turn a profit, and to have enough left over to ameliorate working
conditions for their employees.
9
Name of factory Location Year
founded
Number of
employees
Miranda Industrial 1 Namige 2002
Miranda Industrial 2 Angoche 2004 1493
Miranda Industrial 3 Meconta 2004
Africaju Lda. Namialo 2003 210
IPCCM Murrupula 2003 223
Moma Caju Mecone,
Moma
2004 112
Alexim Lda. Luluti 2004 203
Condorcaju 1 Nametil 2005 1088
Condorcaju 2 Anchilo -2008 TBD
Mauricaju Napaco 2005 -
Olam Monapo 2005 1095
Gan Lda. Mecua -2008 TBD

Ikuru
IKURU is a third-tier farmers’ association which has
been transformed into an agribusiness company,
buying its members’ produce for export to the European
market. It is also a certified seed-company, selling seed
to its members (sometimes on credit) for goods which it
will later purchase from them. IKURU has made
significant strides over the past few years, the most
significant of which was its earning Fair Trade and Organic certification in 2005. As
such, it has been able to sell its agricultural products at a premium, the profits of
which are largely returned to the farmer and/or used to expand the associations’
business capacities. EMPRENDA has to an even greater extent facilitated one of
IKURU’s largest and most profitable exports, namely the sale of Fair Trade cashew
nuts to Twin Trading. IKURU would not of itself have been able to process cashew nuts
produced by its member associations, but agreements have been struck between
EMPRENDA clients, farmer associations and factory owners, and IKURU is now able to
have their goods processed as a service at a fixed price, before selling them on to the
external buyer. The export of groundnuts has also picked up since the introduction
and operation of a new aflatoxin testing laboratory at Uni Lorio University, which has
helped to resolve the problem of aflotoxin contamination that was identified by
EMPRENDA agriculturalists and had been putting IKURU’s Fair Trade certification at
risk. Thanks to these and other efforts to improve storage facilities, the fertility of
soils, quality control and access to credit, IKURU’s sales have now surpassed 2500
tonnes a year. Over $1.5 million in revenue have been generated, resulting in tangible,
positive benefits for farmers, and inspiring others to join or form client associations,
which have increased their membership from ca. 12500 in 2007 to almost 24000 today.
The Nacalolo Warehouse
The Nacalolo warehouse is the most imposing building in
the area, built in brick and cement and rising a few
metres above the homes of those who live in the
immediate surroundings. In front of it is a more modest
house, which was once used by the local FORA (second-tier
farmer association) as a storage facility, but now serves
mainly as an office. The new storage facility was built by
IKURU to house machinery newly purchased from India, used to refine sesame seed
produced by member associations. Although most of the purification of sesame can be
done by hand, this added facility pushes the quality up to the highest possible
percentage, commanding a higher price in international markets. Sesame, like cashew,
need no longer be exported to India for processing, and it will not be long before this
investment, made as a result of IKURU’s profits over the last few years, begins to bring
in more money. The warehouse is not the only one to be found in the district, as
prosperous farmer associations accumulate extra cash and invest in sheltered spaces,
where they can store the products that constitute their main source of income.
Government and/or NGO donations contribute to the farmer’s available finance, but
the projects themselves would be meaningless without the commercial success
facilitated by EMPRENDA and enjoyed by farmer associations across the corridor.
10

Forestry
In Mozambique, it has come to be recognized that
there is a potential for forestry much larger than
that of South Africa, where forest products
account for 2% of the national GDP, even if all
projects were to be limited to the province of
Zambezia. The industry has been identified as an
area with the potential to generate $10 billion for
the country, with prerequisites largely limited to
land preparation, seed acquisition, labour and
forest fire control. There are, however, significant
psychological barriers to the development of this sector, since most investors fail to
understand that planting forests can be a lucrative business. Start-ups are most
difficult to achieve, since initial investments can only be paid off after the trees have
grown to their full size, which in some cases can take about 25 years. In Mozambique,
current land use and land access systems represent an additional difficulty, since
forests are often burnt down by local farmers clearing land or hunting, unaware that
they are destroying important sources of income. Educating locals them in the benefits
of the industry is therefore an important aspect of the work undertaken by the
EMPRENDA alliance as part of their efforts in this sector.
Malonda Tree Farms
The Malonda Foundation was the first private-
sector initiative to promote forest plantation in
Niassa since Mozambique achieved independence
in 2975. In 2006, Malonda Tree Farms was
founded, and immediately began work establishing
two nurseries in the Lichinga and Sanga districts,
which now have the capacity to produce 2000
hectares worth of seedlings. Over 570 hectares of
Pine and Eucalyptus trees have since been planted, and the aim is to reach at least
1000 hectares by the end of the year. The company has in total spent 1,230,000MTN in
salaries, benefitting more than 250 employees and demonstrating that the obstacles
facing this sector are not insurmountable. With the assistance of TechnoServe,
working within the EMPRENDA programme, it has been able to implement high-level
business development strategies and to tackle the challenges which were revealed
along the way, including those posed by termite infestations and forest fires.
Gorongosa National Park
The distinctive ecological conditions of Gorongosa
supported what was once known as the densest and
most diverse wildlife population in Africa. During
the Mozambican Civil War, the delicate
environmental balance of the park was disturbed
by the bombings and land battles which took place
within and around its perimeter. Since 2004, the
11

Mozambican government has engaged in a joint effort with
the Carr foundation to restore the park to its former glory,
and in 2006 GNP personnel approached EMPRENDA to
commission forest fire and forest management plans. Since
then, there have been no forest fires, and initial pilot projects
have been run to test the feasibility of bamboo plantations in
the area, with the ultimate goal of producing charcoal and
building material. Throughout the process, assistance has
been provided to smallhold farmers both within the park and
in the surrounding area, on how to make the most of their
resources in an environmentally friendly manner. With time,
these smallholders will also have the capacity to apply for
employment in the forestry business, as they pick up
knowledge and skills from experts around them.
Finance Mobilized
A cross-cutting issue of primary importance, affecting smallholder associations and
rural entrepreneurs alike, is the scarce availability of finance, especially credit, to be
had in Mozambique. It is not unusual for banks to offer loans with interest rates of
between 25% and 50% per year, and it is even more likely that they will require
collateral that the applicant does not have. One of the EMPRENDA alliance’s first
decisions in 2005 was to focus work on those associations with irrigation systems, or
conversely those who would be able to acquire irrigation systems, as a means of
reassuring the banks of their credit-worthiness. At the beginning of that year, the
alliance ran a pilot-project which loaned associations a certain amount of money, and
discovered that members could make an average of $7 for every $1 loaned to them.
Since then, and indeed since the launch of the EMPRENDA programme, “Finance
Mobilized” has been one of the Core Indicators used to measure the success of our
projects.
The results, however, are not limited to smallholders, since start-up funds and
working capital account for much of what constitutes a successful entrepreneur in the
cashew industry, in commercial farming and in forestry projects, whether finance be
used to purchase machinery, raw materials, or anything else. It is an unfortunate
reality that many of our clients have to resort to using private funds in order to
support their businesses, and yet, as the EMPRENDA programme has progressed, this
has become less and less necessary. In 2005 alone, cashew processors were helped to
mobilize $5 million to purchase raw cashew from farmers, while both smallhold and
commercial farms were assisted in their applications for finance to build irrigation
12
Y I (Feb - Sept 2005) Y II (Oct 2005 -
Sept 2006)
Y III (Oct 2006 -
Sept 2007)
Y IV (Oct 2007 -
Sept 2008)
Target Achieved Target Achieved Target Achieved Target Achieved
Aggregate USD USD (%) USD USD (%) USD USD (%) USD USD (%)
Finance
Mobilized
$1.30
million
$1.34
million
103% $5.8
million
$5.5
million
95% $7.5
million
$6,13
million
82% $18
million
$12.88
million
72%

systems, presented to organizations as diverse as ADIPSA, DANIDA, USAID and the
micro-credit banks already present in the country. Since the second half of 2006,
EMPRENDA clients have leveraged banks like Banco Oportunidade and Banco
ProCredit, in addition to sustaining their older relationship with GAPI, in order to
ensure access to credit for all involved. Since then, the number of approvals for loans
from these institutions, intended to finance pumps, pipes and inputs, among other
things, have increased steadily as experience and confidence is gained in working with
entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector.
Achievements to Date
The EMPRENDA programme has continued expanding since it began in 2004, working
with new crops and different businesses depending on the opportunities which have
arisen. It is difficult to get an overview of EMPRENDA activities without losing the
sense of scope that would truly communicate the
changes experienced in the Beira and Nacala corridors.
To the specific associative efforts, industries and
business described above can be added the following:
In the North, CLUSA has done remarkable work
introducing or promoting the production of highly
profitable crops, including white sesame seed from
Nicaragua (of which 4 tonnes were imported in 2005),
castor seeds (of which two varieties were imported
from Brazil in 2007), groundnuts, cowpeas and soybean. Almost 18,000 new cashew
trees supplied by INCAJU, a government body that provides subsidized seedlings for
smallhold farmers, were planted in collaboration with CLUSA technicians, whose
expertise ensured that a large majority of the plants survived the difficult process of
transplantation. Today, these trees stand secure as a steady source of income for
smallholders, who have since acquired the additional benefits to be derived from
intercrops, now grown on a wide scale thanks to CLUSA’s efforts in setting up
demonstration plots and training sessions to teach farmers the best way to use their
resources. New products have also begun to appear in the confectionary nuts sector,
following a 2006 Macadamia pilot-project, in which 120,000 seeds were planted,
62,000 plants grafted and 15 local technicians trained as part of an initial feasibility
study. Antonio Miranda has established the first commercial macadamia plantation in
the district of Gurué, and once he has completed the construction of his processing
factory (projected for 2010) it is hoped that
Macadamia will constitute another value chain, and
another stable source of income for Mozambican
workers in the future. As if this were not enough,
Miranda is also engaged in the construction of castor
seed oil-extraction factory, intended to supply oil for
export to developed economies.
In the South, field trials have been conducted in the
production of linseed, and the results suggest that
this crop, of which there is a worldwide shortage, is well-suited to production in
Manica. Fruit and vegetable cultivation continues to be an interesting area of
13

exploration in the region, and the efforts in litchi-production
which have recently been added to those of the mango-farmers,
this year, have resulted in a tropical fruit production boom. Our
work with bird’s eye chillies continues to move forward since
the commercialization of the first container was completed in
2007. A new entity called Mozchillies has taken over the
commercialization of the chillies produced by the former CAC
(Companhia Agricola de Chimoio), and will be selling on a
regular basis to Nando’s chain of restaurants. On the horizon,
the tantalizing possibility of producing bananas in Mozambique
continues to look attractive, and it may yet come to pass that
EMPRENDA’s feasibility studies in this field are used to their
original purpose.
Conclusion
EMPRENDA partners believe that market-driven development is the best recipe for
success, and we are convinced that our clients will be able to continue their work
generating revenues for themselves, paying wages to their employees, and
contributing to a more dynamic and prosperous national economy. It has already been
announced that TechnoServe will be withdrawing its assistance from cashew
processors in Nampula by the end of the year, since business in this sector will
henceforth be able to stand on its own two feet. IKURU is another company which has
become perfectly capable of providing for itself and its own members, and although
CLUSA will continue building up farmer associations in the region, it is hoped that the
work completed so far will have taught farmers to continue being productive, turning
a profit, and ameliorating their own businesses in the future. These are the reasons
why the EMPRENDA programme measures its own success according to the success of
its clients, taking as its core indicators the sales and revenues of client associations
and rural enterprises. The services provided by the three partners have sustainability
as their fundamental aim, which is why EMPRENDA finance, supplied by USAID, was
from the beginning reserved to fund the activities of its three partners. The few grants
procured by the EMPRENDA alliance for its clients have been extraneous to the initial
sum, and most of the finance mobilized for clients have come from micro-credit NGOs
or private-sector banks.
Y I (Feb - Sept 2005) Y II (Oct 2005 - Sept
2006)
Y III (Oct 2006 -
Sept 2007)
Y IV (Oct 2007 -
Sept 2008)
Target Achieved Target Achieved Target Achieved Target Achieved
Aggregate USD USD (%) USD USD (%) USD USD (%) USD USD (%)
TOTAL
EMPRENDA
CLIENT
SALES
4.7
million
10.6
million
225% 13
million
11.4
million
88% 14.4
million
12.3
million
85% 16.5
million
7.4
million
45%
Association
Sales
$1,700
,000
$1,61
3,420
95% $2,20
0,000
$2,60
2,547
118% $2,700
,000
$2,98
6,829
111% $3,450
,000
$1,52
6,281
44%
Rural
Enterprises
Revenues
$3,000
,000
$8,96
0,944
299% $10,8
00,00
0
$8,81
3,467
82% $11,70
0,000
$9,26
7,013
79% $13,00
0,000
$5,87
4,399
45%
14

Beira Corridor
Corridor
Sales
$1,800
,000
$2,31
4,035
129% $2,00
0,000
$1,54
0,622
77% $2,100
,000
$3,14
4,503
150% $3,250
,000
$2,67
8,481
82%
Association
Sales (AV)
$600,0
00
$874,
802
146% $800,
000
$1,18
9,622
149% $900,0
00
$884,
858
98% $1,250
,000
$332,
569
27%
Rural
Enterprises
Revenues
(TNS)
$1,200
,000
$1,43
9,233
120% $1,20
0,000
$351,
000
29% $1,200
,000
$2,25
9,645
188% $2,000
,000
$2,34
5,912
117%
Nacala Corridor
Corridor
Sales
$2,900
,000
$8,26
0,329
285% $11,00
0,000
$9,87
5,392
90% $12,30
0,000
$9,10
9,339
74% $13,20
0,000
$4,72
2,199
36%
Association
Sales
(CLUSA)
$1,100
,000
$738,
618
67% $1,40
0,000
$1,41
2,925
101% $1,800
,000
$2,10
1,971
117% $2,200
,000
$1,19
3,712
54%
Rural
Enterprises
Revenues
(TNS)
$1,800
,000
$7,52
1,711
418% $9,60
0,000
$8,46
2,467
88% $10,50
0,000
$7,00
7,368
67% $11,00
0,000
$3,52
8,487
32%
Mozambicans are aware that theirs is a country of enormous potential, and when we
are approached by an entrepreneur with ambition and an idea, we try our utmost to
ensure that they are supplied with enough assistance to create their own business
development strategy. The focus of an enterprise can fall within any of the above-
mentioned value-chains, and sometimes, outside of the programme, we are faced with
proposals in other areas where Mozambique shows significant potential, whether that
be tourism, poultry, coconuts, bananas or anything else. In many cases, we are able to
confirm what the entrepreneur already knew, about the feasibility of their chosen
investment or the business landscape of their country. In most cases, our highly
skilled VolCons can supply them with cutting-edge and convincing business
development services, and an extra hand up in dealing with the obstacles cluttering
the business landscape in Mozambique. Perhaps the most important activity occurring
within the EMPRENDA programme is the exchange of ideas which takes place,
between agricultural technicians and management consultants, smallholder
associations and entrepreneurs, banks, NGOs, the government, and many others. The
dynamic created when minds meet is only a step away from the financial dynamic
needed to promote business and a successful economy. If the EMPRENDA programme
were ever to continue, it would ensure that even greater numbers of entrepreneurs
were brought into this dynamic, which would expand to include a larger number of
sectors with potential. At bottom, our success would rely on the same ingredients
which have achieved the above results to this day: hard work, and a little bit of faith
in people’s desire to make life better for themselves. We believe that this continues to
be the best way of helping people out of rural poverty, and we hope that we are not
alone in this belief.
15

The EMPRENDA Story

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