wfn.org | Africa University graduates building better communities

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 14, 1999 New media contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-31-71B{329}

A UMNS News Feature
By Andra Stevens*

Eighteen months after graduating from United Methodist-related Africa
University, Jeremias Manussa is actively engaged in improving the living
standards and economic prospects of the people of Niassa Province in
Mozambique.  

Niassa is Mozambique's largest province and is located in the northern part
of the country. The area has good soils, rainfall patterns that suit a wide
variety of crops and nearly 12 million hectares of arable land. The
small-holder farming sector accounts for about 90 percent of agricultural
activity in the province.

"Niassa has tremendous potential for agricultural development," said
Manussa, 29. "This province has a vital role to play in terms of food
security in Mozambique and in its contribution to the economic development
of the country. We want to improve the productivity of the small-holder
sector so that these farmers enjoy a better quality of life. Better
production means better nutrition, education and health prospects." 

Manussa is one of many Africa University graduates who are beginning to have
an impact on the continent. The school in Old Mutare, Zimbabwe, opened its
doors in 1992, and its enrollment has grown from an initial 40 to 784 in the
most recent academic term. Manussa and others, such as the Rev. David Mhone
in Malawi, are working to improve conditions in the marginalized continent
in a variety of fields, such as public administration, agriculture and the
ministry.

As head of the Agriculture Economics Department and deputy provincial
director of agriculture for Niassa Province, Manussa is responsible for
evaluating commercial farm projects and making certain that they fit within
the province's development plan. Already, he has about 30 -- 16 South
African and 14 Mozambican -- commercial farmers with projects in the
province.

Niassa has so much potential that the Mozambican government is directing a
lot of foreign investment to the province. The government is offering
1,500-hectare long-term land leases to experienced and successful expatriate
and local commercial farmers who can come into the province to develop
large-scale agricultural projects. The farmers, most of whom are from South
Africa, are setting up tobacco, maize and cotton farms. Some are exploring
processing operations for sunflower oil and fruit juices. Constraints on
realizing the province's agricultural potential include inadequate roads,
poor access to markets and lack of processing infrastructure.

Manussa has other key responsibilities in the Provincial Directorate of
Agriculture and Fisheries. He plans all agricultural activities in Niassa,
and he evaluates and monitors the work of all non-governmental organizations
with projects approved under the economic and social plan. He also watches
and assesses the performance of agriculture extension, agricultural
engineering, livestock management, land tenure, forestry and wildlife
management, and fisheries against the goals outlined in the current
five-year plan.

A member of the 1997 graduating class, Manussa has a bachelor of science
degree in agriculture and natural resources from Africa University. He
specialized in agricultural economics.

"Professionally, I am very much challenged, and it is tough at times,"
Manussa said. "At first, I thought I was too young and without enough work
experience, yet I was given this job just three months after I graduated. I
am working with people who are much older and who have years and years of
experience, but they trust me and I am gaining their respect."

Paul Jensen, a special adviser on a micro finance project operating out of
the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture in Niassa Province, agreed that
graduates like Manussa are being given a lot of responsibility quickly
because there aren't enough people with the needed skills. As he's worked
with Manussa, he has found him "very skillful, diplomatic and patient."
Manussa has built trust and good working relationships with his subordinates
and with senior officials in the province and at the national level, he
said.

Manussa gives Africa University much of the credit for his success thus far.
His education there has helped him in special ways.

"I speak English very well now, and since Mozambique is surrounded by
English-speaking countries and the majority of our foreign investors and
donors are English-speaking, it is quite an advantage," Manussa said. 

The experience of being away from home for five years and interacting with
people from different backgrounds and countries while at Africa University
was a good preparation for the professional and social challenges he is
facing, he said.

"While I was at Africa University, I couldn't understand why, if I was
specializing in agricultural economics, I had to have so much soil science
and animal science for example. Now in the field, I am very thankful for all
those courses. To do the planning and other work I do, I have to understand
forestry, livestock, etc.,  because when I go to visit farmers they ask me
all sorts of questions about goats, cabbage, pesticides and fertilizer. I
have a great foundation, so I can give some advice to people who often don't
have access to someone else."

Across the lake in Malawi, fellow graduate Daniel Mhone is pastor of Mpenya
United Methodist Church. The church is in Lunzu, about 9.3 miles outside
Blantyre. Mhone graduated from Africa University with a bachelor of divinity
degree in December 1997. He planted the church in this semi-rural community
in March 1998. It is one of six United Methodist churches in Malawi.

"This field is ripe for evangelism because the other church denominations
have not embarked on much evangelism," Mhone said. "There is a lot to be
done in bringing the word of God to the people and helping them to embrace
Christian life."

Mhone began the church with 27 people and a donation of six acres of land
and a house from a local widow. The church's membership has increased to 90,
and the congregation often meets outdoors because it has outgrown the house.
Mhone expects to have 200 members by year end.

"The challenges we faced in establishing this congregation were many,"
Mhone said. "The people had no idea what the United Methodist Church was all
about or how it was run, so we teach them from ground level and orient them
to Methodism."

In November 1998, Zimbabwean Bishop Christopher Jokomo gave Mhone additional
responsibilities. He was named special assistant to the bishop and now
supervises the United Methodist Church's work in Malawi. He spends a lot of
his time planting new churches and nurturing Christian fellowship in
Malawian communities.

"We have embarked on an aggressive program of evangelism and Christian
education, both of which were missing in Malawi," Mhone said. The United
Methodist Church in Malawi is placing a lot of emphasis on empowering the
local people, especially lay people, for leadership, he said. "We are
equipping people to speak for themselves and to participate fully in the
life of the church and in expressing their faith."

Under Mhone's leadership, the church has started a number of small
income-generating projects to help people in the community become more
self-reliant in what are difficult economic times. There are weaving and
sewing clubs, and some members are working on church-supported vegetable
gardens. Mhone also used the experience gained during his internship at Old
Mutare Mission in Zimbabwe to set up a nursery school in the community near
his church.

"The biggest contribution that Africa University has made to my capacity as
a pastor is in the field of church leadership training," Mhone said. "I
appreciate my years of training at Africa University. They were relevant and
they have enabled me to work very effectively and to make a solid
contribution in my church and country."
# # #
*Stevens is director of information at Africa University.

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