Insights & Field Stories
Real stories from Mozambican smallholder farmers, field updates, and where every sponsorship dollar goes.
Planting with the November rains
Help Carlos M. plant sesame in Zambézia this season
From $25. Your gift buys seed and fertilizer at Carlos's local seed shop, and you get the receipt and field photos.
Gifts, not investments. See every sponsorship live.
Women in Mozambique's Informal Sector: The Traders Who Keep the Economy Running
Women do much of Mozambique's farming, market trading and cross-border trade. The barriers they face, from capital to safety to bank accounts, and what actually helps.
Street Vendors in Africa: Who They Are and the Challenges They Face
Who street vendors are, what they sell, why so many Africans earn a living on the street, the challenges they face every day and what helps.
Mukheristas: Mozambique's Cross-Border Informal Traders, Explained
How Mozambique's mukheristas buy goods in South Africa and sell them in Maputo's markets, why women play a big role, the risks on the route and what helps.
A Pobreza é uma Característica Humana ou uma Condição?
A pobreza é sobretudo uma condição criada pela natureza, pela história e pelas instituições, e não um traço de nascença. O que dizem economistas e o budismo.
Is Poverty a Human Characteristic or a Condition? What 2,500 Years of Thought Say
Poverty is mainly a condition created by nature, history and institutions, not a trait people are born with. What economists, philosophers and Buddhism say.
A Letter to Sponsors: Why Mozambique's Farmers Stay Poor
An open letter to MBC sponsors: what the data says about poverty and informal work in Mozambique, and why a farmer's seed and fertilizer matter.
Anti-Poaching Ranger Salary 2026: What They Actually Earn
Anti-poaching rangers in Mozambique earn $126-$789/month—among the lowest in Africa. Discover how these salaries impact rural security and agriculture.
Case Study: The Visitor Who Stayed 27 Minutes — How a Mozambican Found MBC Through Google
A Mozambican found Maputo Bridge Capital through Google organic search, spending 27 minutes exploring the platform, proving the concept's viability.
Case Study: Forward Contracts — How 3 Farmers Locked in Prices Before Planting
Discover how COJAZ farmers used forward contracts to lock in crop prices before planting, securing better income for the harvest season.
Case Study: M-Pesa as a Bank — How Mobile Money Replaced the Banking System for 44 Farmers
Discover how 44 Mozambican farmers use M-Pesa mobile money to manage finances, support their season, and bypass traditional banking limitations.
Case Study: 100 Blockchain Blocks — How SHA-256 Built Trust in Mozambican Agriculture
Learn how SHA-256 blockchain technology creates an immutable audit trail for data in Mozambican agriculture, ensuring transparency and trust.
Case Study: 9 Crops, 3 Districts, 1 Cooperative — How COJAZ Diversifies Risk
Discover how 44 Mozambican farmers growing 9 different crops across 3 districts created a natural insurance system to mitigate agricultural risks.
Case Study: Satellite Credit Scoring — 44 Farmers Scored From Space
How Sentinel-2 satellites orbiting 786 km above Earth helped assess 44 Mozambican farmers using NDVI data, mobile patterns, and field verification.
Case Study: Zito — From 1 Hectare to 500 Hectares
How one Mozambican farmer organized 44 cooperative members, secured 500 hectares of land, and built a satellite-verified farming community in Zambézia province — without a bank account.
One Farmer Story a Month
Get one farmer story a month, and see where every dollar goes.