Menesia Muinjo and Geline Fuko

One of thousands of Mozambican women looking for a way to feed her family. Credit: Zahira Kharsany/IPS

In the past, Celina Cossa would queue for days and even nights just waiting to buy a bag of maize. But that did not even guarantee she would be able to purchase it. Some nights her two children, her husband and her would go to sleep on empty stomachs.

She was one of thousands of Mozambican women looking for a way to feed her family.

And she found one – through the age old method of farming. Along with 250 other women, they began growing crops and raising poultry. The women sold the excess and created a business that has now has over two thousand women farmers. And as the numbers grew, they began helping others get credit to start their own businesses.

As the founder of this network of mostly women farmers (now called the General Union of Cooperatives) Cossa has been recognised for her efforts to provide food security to thousands of Mozambican families.

Cossa has been named winner of this year’s Food Security Policy Leadership Award for “Civil Society Policy Movers and Shakers”. The Food Agriculture Natural Resources and Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) will present her with the award on Wednesday evening in Maputo.

Food shortages in Mozambique in the 1980s were a norm. Colonialism and war left many, especially women, extremely poor.

Sharing her inspiring story with journalists from across African she spoke about some of the obstacles that women had to face.

“It was hard at first. Many husbands forbade their wives to leave (their homes) early and return late,” Cossa said. This, she said, affected most women’s participation in food production and marketing activities.

Many of the women would end up at her home, seeking shelter after their husbands fought with them. Even in her own marriage there were obstacles to face. Her now ex-husband blamed her for breaking up the marriages of these women farmers.

But despite this, Cossa managed to increase membership from 250 farmers to just over 2,900 mostly female members today. They have also diversified their production from crop to poultry and live stock farming.

As the founder member and President of the Union, she ran the cooperative with limited funds. Many of the women themselves would bring their own agricultural tools and money to support project.

Now the cooperative helps women farmers get loans to start and run their businesses, assists with giving them expert advice on how to begin farming and helps them sell their produce at markets. To date, the farmers produce eight thousand chickens per month and are supplying the local markets with their products.

Cossa said her achievements are due to the combined efforts of the women who work with her. She said she did not separate herself from other union members.

This is the first time FANRPAN is recognising the outstanding work of an individual in food and production since its inception in 1997.