Geography of Poverty: Case Study: Moçambique

Rick Bein IUPUI Geography Department

Fulbright Schollar to Mozambique

11 Months Sept 2004-August 2005

Teaching “Maneio e planificação de Recursos

Recreativos” (Ecotourism)

Research

4 Storey Agriculture

Gross Domestic Product Per Capita

Human Development Index

Debt as Percent of Income

Fig. 9-20: Many developing countries have accumulated large debts relative to their GDPs. Much of their budgets now must be used to finance their debt.

Mozambique

Rainfall in millimeters:

Moçambique

Near the Zimbabwe Border

SAVE RIVER

Elephant Tracks

Elephants dig for water

Clearings

New Forest Clearing

Charcoal

Moçambique Statistics

• Population: 19.4 million• BR 42/1000• DR 20/1000• NIR 2.2%• Doubling rate : 32 years• Infant Mortality Rate: 215/1000• Life Expectancy : 42 years

Newborn

17 % of Women Use Contraception in Mozambique

44 % Population Below Age 15

Female Literacy Rates

Fig. 9-13a: Female literacy is lower than male literacy (Fig. 9-13b) in many LDCs, with significant gender gaps in parts of the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.

Gender Differences in School Enrollment

Fig. 9-12: As many or more girls than boys are enrolled in school in more developed countries, but fewer girls than boys are enrolled in many LDCs.

Gender-Related Development Index (GDI)

Fig. 9-10: The GDI combines four measures of development, reduced by the degree of disparity between males and females.

Types of HouseholdsChart 3.1 The Distribution of Household Types Mozambique and the

Regions

Couple72%

Couple Man Absent3%

Polygamous3%

Single Male Head4%

Single Female Head18%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

North Centre South

Rural Assets

HIV in Adults above 16% in Moçambique

HIV Poster

Number of Students per Teacher

People per Physician

Percent Urban Population

Fig. 13-1: Percent of the population living in urban areas is usually higher in MDCs than in LDCs.

MAPUTO FROM THE AIR

Maputo Water Front.

Main Mosque

Main Catholic

Cathedral

Assembly of God Church

Wealthier High-rise

Neighborhood

Middle Class Neighborhood

My Apartment

High-rise Neighborhood

Poorer neighborhood

Itinerant shops

Ecotourism

• Application for a forestry curriculum• Support a national effort to develop tourism as a source

for raising foreign capital • Course mission: develop a sense of sustainability

regarding the use of tourism resources

1. What kind of tourism can Mozambicans appreciate?

2. How can Mozambicans become tourists?

• Redefining tourism as to what is available for low income nationals

4th year forestry students at Eduardo Mondlane

University

Maputo City Parks

• Portuguese colonial masters created 40 plus city parks in the capital city of Maputo before they left in the early 1970s.

• Parks still remain on the landscape, but not always used in the manner intended by the Portuguese.

• Parks remain as a source of recreation for the average Mozambicans.

Interviewing Stakeholders

This Park has become a Farm.

Largo do Ribatejo

Economic Issues of Agriculture

• Economic issues of commercial farmers– Access to markets– Overproduction– Sustainable agriculture

• Economic issues of subsistence farmers– Population growth– International trade

• Increasing food supply

Percentage of Adults in Agriculture

Four Storey Agriculture

• Dr. F. L. (Rick) Bein, Fulbright Professor Universidade de Eduardo Mondlane Faculdade de Agronomia de

Engenharia Florestal

Indiana University - Purdue University at Indianapolis

• Christopher J. Hill Private Consultant

Morrungulo, Inhambane, Moçambique

Four Storey Agriculture• Occurs in the District of Massinga, in the coastal coconut zone

of Inhambane Province, Moçambique • Where many different types of crops grow together on the same

land.

High Biodiversity Farming

This highly bio-diverse mix of at least 20 crops grows to:

• Various heights, • Plant Life Cycles, and

• Agro-ecological Micro-zones.

The study area:

District de MassingaProvince of Inhambane,

Moçambique

The Four Levels• The fourth level, the highest, is occupied by well spaced

coconut trees.

• The third level contains dispersed shorter useful trees. These consist of cashews, planted fruit trees, wild fruit trees and others used for fiber and medicinal purposes.

• The second level is occupied by plants that grow upright off the ground and includes cassava, corn and sorghum.

• The first level covers the ground and includes peanuts, cowpeas, pumpkins and cacana.

The fourth level,

the highest, is occupied by dispersed

coconut trees.

The third level contains dispersed fruit trees and other useful trees like this medicinal tree.

Cassava is grown in the 2nd storey. People eat the leaves and the roots.

Cassava

Cacana grows wild on the ground in the first level and complements the diet.

The Four Storeys Coconut trees dominate

the Caju trees, that

shade the

Cassava.

Cowpeas capture the sunlight that reaches the ground.

The products of AgroforestrySubsistence• Cassava• Maize• Peanuts• Cowpeas• Fruits (cultivated e Wild) • Coconut products• Sorghum• Products of the Mafura• Sweet Potatoes• Vegetables• Meat • Mopane worms

Commercial • Copra e coconuts • Cashew nuts• Alcohol distilled from

fermented fruits• Peanuts• Artisan Products • Construction Material • Firewood & Charcoal• Meat

4 Storey Agriculture was a survival strategy

that developed by trial and error for more that one thousand years,

in which the farmers of Inhambane Province adopted new exotic plants

and incorporated them with their native plants.

Security of 4 Storey Agriculture.

• During war.• When markets fail• When crops fail• Distributes the production of food throughout the

year • Diversifies the diet

Traction animals

At a village school, students are fascinated by a digital camera.

Employment Changes by Sector

Per Capita GDP US$

Service Sector Employment

Fig. 12-1: Over half of workers are employed in the service sector in most MDCs, while a much smaller percentage are in the service sector in most LDCs.