How coffee is saving a unique Mozambican forest

From a distance, Mount Gorongosa looks pockmarked. Now, they are scarred by deep holes -- the result of clearcutting that exposed the soil and parched it, leaving only shrubs and grasses. As Juliasse Samuel Sabao walks through the plantation, at an altitude of some 1,000 metres (3,300 feet), he points out the obvious progress. Sabao, who works for Gorongosa National Park, fled to Zimbabwe to escape Mozambique's civil war. There, he discovered coffee culture. Mozambique fought a bloody war for freedom from Portugal, but after independence in 1975, a civil war ravaged the country until 1992. Pedro Muagara, a trained agronomist and the park's director, had planted a few seedlings, until the conflict shattered his coffee dreams. Now he's back, teaching communities new ways of farming. The peace treaty didn't solve the problems of communities on the mountain. Coffee plants take several years to become productive, so the programme also includes food crops so the communities can still support themselves. Gorongosa coffee is exported around the world, with profits ploughed back into the plantation. The World Bank has praised the partnership as a model, which has benefited some 200,000 people in the area. The programme also aligns with the government's goal of improving agriculture and moving beyond exports of raw commodities, said Celso Correia, Agriculture and Rural Development minister. 'One of the biggest challenges in the agriculture sector is the lack of mechanisation, and the need for technology transfers,' he said. With the war in Ukraine, 'commodity price inflation is also affecting Mozambique. We need to alleviate this pressure... increase production, (and) be self-sufficient,' he said. 'We can't depend on international projects'.

How coffee is saving a unique Mozambican forest

From a distance, Mount Gorongosa looks pockmarked. But in recent years, the forest has been growing back, thanks to a previously foreign crop: coffee.