Khessani Cooperative: Sustainable Mangroves for Food Security, Gender Equality, and Eco-Tourism in Inhambane Bay, Mozambique

This project is led by the Women for Africa Foundation, in collaboration with Duna Lodge and the Khessani Cooperative as local partners and is funded by Spanish Cooperation and the Santander Foundation. The initiative addresses the region’s key challenges through a comprehensive and sustainable approach, promoting socioeconomic development and environmental conservation, with a focus on women’s empowerment.

The Khessani Cooperative, made up of 15 women from the Jangamo district, has been working on this project for two years and was formally established in July 2022. One of its main objectives is to develop an aquaculture program that will integrate at least 15 more women into the cooperative. Through this initiative, it is expected that in the long term, 210 women shellfish harvesters from the village of Madava will have a safe space to sell their products without having to travel to markets or depend on fluctuating prices.

Socioeconomic Context of the Region

The province of Inhambane has a population of approximately 1.5 million people, more than 51% of whom are women. Despite its natural wealth, the region faces significant socioeconomic challenges. The poverty rate is high, particularly in rural areas like the Jangamo district, where subsistence farming and artisanal fishing are the main economic activities.

Women’s participation in the formal labor market in Inhambane is limited. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics of Mozambique (INE), less than 30% of women in the region have access to formal employment, compared to 50% for men. This disparity is even more pronounced in rural areas, where paid employment opportunities are scarce, and traditional gender roles further limit women’s participation in productive economic activities.

Limited access to formal education and technical training also affects women’s employability. Many adult women have not completed primary education, which reduces their opportunities to access better-paid jobs or participate in more formal sectors such as tourism or industry.

Objectives

The project promotes the economic empowerment of women through aquaculture, sustainably increasing the availability of nutritious food from the mangrove in the Jangamo district. It combines sustainable development, innovation, and gender equity, laying the foundations for a scalable, high-impact model in the region.

Economic Empowerment of Women:

– Promoting employability for women in the cooperative.

– Training in sustainable aquaculture and product commercialization.

Social and Productive Innovation:

– Leveraging the resources of the mangrove to implement an organized and sustainable farming system.

– Integrating results into value chains, including the creation of a sustainable tourism route.

Improvement of the Mangrove Ecosystem:

– Implementing artisanal and sustainable aquaculture practices that help mitigate climate change.

– Preserving live mangrove food for self-consumption and commercialization.

Sustainable Economic Development:

– Generating income and employment opportunities.

– Creating synergies with productive sectors such as tourism and food.

Project Impact

social Impact:

– Training of 20 women from the Khessani Cooperative in sustainable aquaculture, nutritious food, and crab commercialization.

– Promoting gender equality and decent work by fostering entrepreneurship and job integration for women in a sector traditionally dominated by men.

– Increasing the sustainable availability of nutritious mangrove food for community consumption.

Environmental Impact:

– Innovative nature-based solutions to combat food insecurity and protect the mangrove.

– Developing sustainable tourism that will generate income for fishermen and their communities while protecting the environment and local cultural heritage.

– Contributing to climate change mitigation by reducing the environmental impact of human activity and promoting more sustainable agricultural practices.

Economic Impact:

– Autonomous management of the cultivation and commercialization of products by 20 women from the cooperative.

– Development and conservation of the mangrove with the goal of starting aquaculture activities led by the women of the Khessani Cooperative.

– Developing a model that promotes mangrove conservation and the local economy through aquaculture.