Preserving peace and a rainforest with coffee in Mozambique

Project aim: Protecting the rainforest on Mount Gorongosa

Project implementation: 300,000 coffee plants and 50,000 native trees have been planted on a 145 hectare (358 acre) area. The Gorongosa project is planning to plant another 150 hectares in 2020

Project scope: 400 farmers are involved in the project of around 1000 people living on the mountain.

In March 2019, cyclone Idai swept through Africa, bringing with it the worst floods in 20 years. Mozambique was particularly badly hit. Idai destroyed houses, inundated farms and left many dead.

It's a devastating picture, but scientists say it could have been much worse were it not for a rainforest in Gorongosa National Park in central Mozambique. When the cyclone struck that area, the intact wetland ecosystem was able to absorb much of the torrential rainfall.

But the green paradise — home to diverse plants and animals — is under threat from logging and intermittent conflict. A sustainable coffee project, set up by Mozambique's government and US nonprofit, the Carr Foundation, aims to protect the ecosystem and, some hope, to keep the peace too.

A film by Stefan Möhl