History of USAID Assistance to Mozambique

USAID assistance to Mozambique began during the decade following independence with sporadic humanitarian responses to natural disasters. In 1984, USAID initiated significant emergency food assistance and a policy reform-based commodity import program and in 1986 began activities to improve Mozambican transport infrastructure of regional importance.

Beginning in 1989, within the context of broad Government of the Republic of Mozambique reforms, the USAID program grew to include new policy reform activities focused on liberalizing and privatizing agricultural production and food markets. USAID also implemented projects that provided training and technical assistance to advance economic and political reforms as well as improvements in maternal and child health.

In response to the 1991-92 southern Africa droughts, USAID's substantial food and other assistance saved lives and mitigated suffering in Mozambique.

Peace in Mozambique
When the 1992 Mozambique Peace Agreement ended 16 years of civil war, USAID began a war-to-peace transition program which continued to respond to emergency needs resulting from war and drought but also supported the peace process and the reintegration of Mozambicans into productive social and economic activities. This program included support for demobilization, demining, elections, rehabilitation of roads and bridges, and the provision of seeds, tools, and health services to millions of Mozambicans displaced or affected by war and drought.

The Country Strategic Plan, FY 1996 - 2003
Implementation of the first long-term Country Strategic Plan began in 1996. The program worked to increase rural household incomes, improve government transparency and accountability, and improve the health of women and children. Later, the Mission began working to increase the private sector’s role in developing economic policy and improving the environment to encourage trade and investment. In response to increasing levels of HIV/AIDS prevalence, USAID expanded HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs along the Maputo Corridor.

Post-Flood Recovery
Following Mozambique's severe flooding and cyclones in February 2000, the U.S. Congress provided $137 million in emergency funding to speed Mozambique’s recovery. USAID channeled these funds into projects to rebuild damaged infrastructure such as roads, bridges and the Limpopo rail corridor, to provide emergency recovery grants to 106,000 families, and to finance loans to agricultural and commercial enterprises in the affected area. In addition, USAID helped Mozambique improve its disaster preparedness and response capabilities in order to reduce the degree of severity of future natural disasters.

The Country Strategic Plan 2004-2010
A three-day seminar held in October 2001 launched the new strategy development process for USAID Mozambique. Following a comprehensive deliberation and consultation process, the Mission agreed to build upon the previous plan and continue to expand economic opportunities to rural areas, promote a policy environment that stimulates trade and investment, improve the health of mothers and children, work with the Government of Mozambique to fight against HIV/AIDS, and improve democracy and governance at the municipal and central levels.

Country Assistance Strategy: 2009-2014
USAID worked with all USG agencies in Mozambique to develop the USG Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for 2009-2014 , which provides a “whole of government” approach to addressing the development needs and potential of Mozambique. It provides a guide for aligning USG policies and aid to best promote development in Mozambique and combines the strengths of various USG agencies to achieve key U.S. foreign policy objectives. This strategy is focused on creating the conditions necessary to promote Mozambican political, economic, and social development.

The strategy prioritizes five strategic goals for U.S. foreign assistance:

• Strengthen democratic governance in Mozambique
• Improve competitiveness of key economic sectors
• Improve the health of Mozambicans
• Expand opportunities for quality education and training
• Enhance capabilities of Mozambican security forces

Implementation Procurement Reform

Implementation and Procurement Reform (IPR) is one of seven USAID Forward reforms that USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah announced in 2010.   IPR calls for more direct engagement with host government, local civil society, and private sector partners in order to improve local ownership of development results and strengthen sustainable development impact.  USAID/Mozambique has challenged itself to pursue IPR to the maximum, responsible extent possible, progressively moving its program from one that relies almost entirely on U.S.- and internationally-based intermediary organizations to one that increasingly provides funding directly to Mozambican organizations, both in government and civil society.  

COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION STRATEGY 2014-2018

After broad consultations with government, private sector, donors, and civil society partners, USAID published a new country development cooperation strategy (CDCS) to focus its assistance to Mozambique in tandem with the country´s own strategy. The USAID goal is to support Mozambique to leverage emerging opportunities to achieve inclusive socio-economic development by concentrating on four objectives:

1. Strengthening democratic governance with effective, transparent, and accountable government institutions and civil society participation in governance processes
2. Accelerating broad-based economic growth by promoting agricultural growth and food security, improving the business climate to attract investments, and improved management of natural resources
3. Improving the quality of basic education by improving reading and learning outcomes and ensuring at risk children benefit from schooling
4. Improving the health status of the population by increasing coverage of health and nutrition services and through strengthening the health system to deliver services.

Crosscutting these objectives is an emphasis on gender and youth themes, as well as a focus on leveraging resources from private sector partnerships and extractive industries.

The complete CDCS is available here.