Legacies are built now, for the future. On Mount Namuli – our flagship site – farmers are digging into bean production and seed conservation as a way to plan for a thriving future – both for themselves and for their environment.

On Mount Namuli, the common bean is an important high value-added cash crop that can provide income when farmers are waiting to harvest the crops they have planted.  Also known as seasonal hunger, or the lean season, food is scarce and families do not yet have income to purchase supplementary food.  For the farmers of Namuli, a strong and reliable bean production can allow for diversification of agricultural production systems that reduce dependence on the income of upland potato production to support livelihoods, and provide a food source and an income during a critical period of the year.

From seed distribution, to harvest and seed conservation, the Legado Namuli Project worked hand in hand with farmers throughout the entire cycle of bean production to subsidize their investment, understand the challenges, track success and plan for the future.

In Mozambique, farming means meeting the everyday challenges of climate change.  Increasingly unpredictable and heavy rains can lead to wilting plants, root rot and low yields.  Adapting to new calendar cycles and learning how to coexist with plant pests only scratches the surface of the complexity of the issues that the farmers must face and the resilience and flexibility they require to have a successful harvest.

Throughout the bean campaign, Legado Namuli worked with over 50 producers from across the Malema River Valley, gaining insight into the challenges confronted in the fields and working together with farmers to innovate new solutions that lead to thriving futures.