O sistema insterinstitucional de técnicas pós-colheita em Nampula

Abstract

The present work makes an analytical study of a credit sale project of small manual machines for processing agricultural products (presses, mills and threshers and scales), in order to determine the factors behind the failures of the project in the perspective to find alternatives for its future. It is a pilot project working with the participation of several independent and autonomous institutions making up a system. The study was elaborated based on Roling's (1988) reasoning, according to which it is fruitless to think about making interventions in the present-day extension (in this case, analyzing the project for the adoption of innovations) without considering all the actors that are part of it, because in fact they are interconnected forming a system. It is also important to take a systems approach because it can allow the project to learn from others' experiences. It was also important to make an approach to literature to know the theoretical basis that supports the operation of a project of this nature (theory of diffusion and adoption of innovations including the promotion of participation), in order to compare with what was done in practice. The research on what happens in the practice of the project was carried out based on informal surveys of the participating actors, use of the IICN work report on the technical study and social acceptance of the machines by the adopters. For the study of the information and knowledge system on post-harvest techniques in Nampula (Roling's approach, 1988), the actors were subdivided into 3 subsystems. The first is made up of the institutions working on the Oxfam Belgium project, the third is made up of the final target group (rural peasants). There were difficulties in moving to the places where the project actually works (the place where the machines were distributed) due to the lack of logistical conditions (money and transport). This forced the use of data collected by others (insufficiently). It was known during the research that some machines had not been adopted because they had been placed in inappropriate places for their adoption (with little raw material and more productive competing techniques), based on criteria that did not agree with the project objectives. Therefore, it was decided to complete the study by carrying out a research to find an area that might eventually meet the conditions to host the project in the future, according to the criteria that apparently originate the importation of these machines (helping peasants in rural areas that contribute to the network and have problems processing their products). In this line of thought, the target of the project should, in principle, be a district that stands out among the province's producers (products that can be processed by the project's machines). According to data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of Nampula, the district with the best production values ​​for products that can be processed by machines is Malema. Therefore, a case study is carried out in Malema to recognize the actors and post-harvest techniques used in the rural subsystem of this District. The general conclusions drawn from this study were that the project had difficulties in meeting the specific objectives of the final target group with these machines. There were deficiencies in the management of the inter-institutional system. Actors did not correctly assume the roles. The approach of the project actors was "top-down" style without respecting the characteristics that could lead to the adoption of the machines. Machines do not have attributes that facilitate their adoption. The existing knowledge and information system both in the project and among the various institutions outside the project does not present synergy.