Orlanda Varela, a young mother of two, lives with her parents in Guava community and cultivates a 0.045-hectare plot of borrowed land, a common arrangement for women who rarely own land. She had no written agreement, no ownership rights, and no collateral to access credit. Before the project, she cultivated two small crops a year, earning just US$45.00–60.00 due to poor yields, while facing discrimination, theft of her produce by neighbours, and lack of recognition for her work within her household. Without access to a mobile phone, she had limited information on markets, agricultural practices, or financial services.

In 2025, Orlanda participated in ADPP’s women-focused sustainable agriculture training, which combined technical skills with education on gender equality, GBV, and women’s rights. She learned proper seed and row spacing, organic compost production, natural pesticide preparation, post-harvest handling, market strategies, and her right to control the income she earned. For the first time, she recognised that theft of her crops constituted gender-based violence and began to challenge it publicly.

Applying her new knowledge, Orlanda adjusted her seed spacing, produced organic compost from vegetable scraps collected from neighbours, and applied it to her plots. The results were striking maize yields increased fourfold from 25 kg to 100 kg, and beans doubled from 25 kg to 50 kg. She sold two maize bags for US$100.00 — more than a month’s typical local wages — and used the money to repair her home and buy clothes for her children, marking the first time she had control over her income. The remainder of her crops provided several months of food for her family.

The impact extended beyond income. Her partner began consulting her on household decisions, and neighbours started recognising her as a knowledgeable farmer. Three women requested that she teach them her techniques, creating a ripple effect in the community. Orlanda reflected, “As a woman, I had to work harder to prove myself, and my challenge became an opportunity to change minds. EWG did not just teach farming — it taught me to challenge barriers. Learning to space seeds improved yields; learning about rights gave me confidence to control the income.”

Orlanda’s story demonstrates how combining technical agriculture training with gender and rights education can empower women economically and socially, improve household decision-making, and create community-wide change. It highlights the importance of visible results in building credibility, shifting norms, and encouraging peer-to-peer knowledge transfer, showing how the project contributed to broader outcomes in sustainable agriculture, economic empowerment, and gender equality.

Contributed by ADPP, Mozambique.