On February 16, 2005 more than 100 teacher-training students, HIV/AIDS Program Officers and staff from Soya Canteens welcomed a US delegation headed by former Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, James Moseley and Under Secretary Eric Bost in the outskirts of Maputo, Mozambique. The event took place at one of seven rural Teacher Training Colleges, supported by USDA’s Food for Progress (FFP) Project implemented by Planet Aid, Inc. and its counterpart in Mozambique, ADPP (a locally registered nongovernmental organization), in cooperation with the American Soybean Association.

The delegation tasted prepared soy food and was introduced to the Soy Canteen Concept, which forms part of the Planet Aid Food for Progress Project, implemented in the Province of Sofala.

The delegation received a presentation on the Food for Progress program and its successful implementation to present. They met with students who participated in the program and who shared their stories from the field along with their future perspectives. The students discussed how they see themselves as key players in bringing needed education and agricultural development into rural communities of Mozambique.

Summary of the project: The Planet Aid, Inc. FFP project will run for three years and includes a USDA donation of a total of 990 metric tons of nutritional soy products and 9,000 metric tons of soybean oil for distribution.

The soybean oil will be delivered and monetized over three years to pay for the implementation of the comprehensive rural health and education program designed to:

Ø       Reach 200,000 Mozambicans in rural communities with HIV/AIDS awareness & prevention, counseling and mobilization through the Award Winning TCE Program (Total Control of the Epidemic);

Ø        Support the training of 450 rural primary school teachers in Mozambique;

Ø     Distribute soy products to 2,900 families affected by HIV and AIDS;

Ø        Establish 50 Soy Canteens serving 1,065,000 low-cost soy-based meals to people living with HIV/AIDS and provide affected families with technical assistance from American Soybean Association.

Ø      Implement agricultural economic development in connection with each of the seven Teacher Training Colleges and 180 rural Primary Schools.