Project 10/12: Milan (Italy) – Quelimane (Mozambique)
For the second time, PLATFORMA has decided to reward the best city-to-city and region-to-region international cooperation projects. Twelve projects have been shortlisted out of 26 applications. Every day, we are presenting one new project (sorted by alphabetical order). This is how the municipality of Milan in Italy is presenting its partnership with Quelimane in Mozambique. The project is entitled « Improving food access by supporting urban agriculture and supply chains in Quelimane ».
« “Quelimane Limpa” (Clean Quelimane) promotes the use of compost to improve the quality and quantity of urban agriculture harvests; “Quelimane Agricola” (Agricultural Quelimane) contributes to sustainable rural development by strengthening the local agricultural markets and supply chains. The programmes have been jointly designed and developed by the municipality of Quelimane and the city of Milan. The implementation of these programmes also facilitated Quelimane’s signature of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact in 2017 and strengthened the partnership with the Municipality of Milan, Italian NGOs and international institutions to access knowledge, apply for funding and proceed in implementing the activities planned in the programmes.
The initial idea for “Quelimane Limpa” came about in 2015. The municipalities of Quelimane and Milan had already established a working relationship when Mayor Manuel de Araújo contacted the Municipality of Milan for advice about how to tackle Quelimane’s waste problem. His enquiry led to the cities co-writing a project proposal for Quelimane Limpa that they submitted, together with Italian NGO Celim and with input from local NGO SAMcom, to a EuropeAid funding call via the EU local office in Mozambique.
“Quelimane Limpa” ran for 2.5 years from 2017 to mid-2019. It is the city’s flagship effort to resolve the solid waste management crisis and combat practices that have a negative environmental impact, as well as promote sustainable agriculture and the management of natural resources by farming communities. It seeks to do this by strengthening cooperation between the local government, civil society and private sectors in municipal affairs.
By working with the municipal waste company, EMUSA, to clean up solid organic waste from informal dumps, the project renders flood waters – and therefore the aquifer into which they flow – cleaner. The result for agriculture is safer, higher quality produce. The programme also involves separate collection of organic waste at the city’s markets, and the creation of a compost industry. The application of compost to land that is lacking in nutrients boosts the quantity and quality of crops produced by small-scale farmers and creates jobs.
The idea for “Quelimane Agricola” originated from Italian NGO Mani Tese, which has a long history of working in Quelimane. Together with the municipality, Mani Tese identified a need to support agricultural production and sale of produce to local markets, to improve food safety and food security. In 2017 the City of Quelimane, Mani Tese and ICEI (another Italian NGO) invited the Municipality of Milan to join them as ‘know-how’ partner to apply for project funding through the Italian Cooperation Agency.
“Quelimane Agricola” began in 2018 and will run for three years. Focused on the Quelimane, Nicoadala and Namacurra districts of Zambezia, it aims to contribute to sustainable rural development by strengthening the local agricultural market in cooperation with producers, local authorities, and the private sector, by promoting sustainable farming practices, and by increasing awareness of local food so that citizens choose healthier local produce rather than imported food. »
