Micaia learns from as well as with the communities in which we work. This ensures that that our programmes are addressing community priorities and taking account of contextual realities. By taking the time to listen, we also capture valuable insights and experiences from locally lived realities that help shape our work and understanding.

To thrive, we all need a decent basic standard of living. This starts with having sufficient quality food, and access to essential services, to ensure that our families can live well. Micaia’s work ranges from supporting and training farming families to produce more from existing land, to helping people diversify their sources of income, to ensuring that people know their rights, and helping marginalised people gain confidence and agency.

We live in an age of rapid change and uncertainty, from an increasingly extreme and variable climate to the risks and opportunities of technology and AI. Micaia helps people understand the major changes taking place in our world, opening opportunities, and facilitating debate about how families and communities can navigate the impacts that these changes are having on them.

Collaboration in a common cause is a critical element of a healthy, vibrant community, and is demonstrated in farmer and producer associations, co-operatives, savings groups, natural resource management committees, and many informal groupings. Micaia provides training and support to enable active citizens to maximise the effectiveness, inclusion, and accountability of their organisations. In the realm of philanthropy, Micaia Foundation is helping establish community foundation-like organisations that mobilise local resources and use them to support community needs and opportunities.

With so many people in Mozambique living below the national poverty line, there is an eagerness to learn about economic livelihood opportunities. Micaia Foundation over the last decade has trained more than 12,000 people (60% women) in one or more livelihood activity that could help them earn additional income. In the rural landscapes, we’ve provided training and support in beekeeping, wild harvesting of natural products, agriculture (including permaculture and permagardens), horticulture, and specific commodities such as Bambara Nut. In Chimoio, we have focused on supporting young people within the informal economy. In the realm of philanthropy, we train people from civil society organisations in the principles and practices of philanthropy and local fundraising and bring people together from all sectors to learn about the potential of philanthropy for local development