How HATO Is Helping Power a New Generation of Farmers in Mozambique

From training to transformation

Ebenezer's model gives young people, aged 18 to 24, two years of hands-on training in farming and business, sending them out with the skills to build something of their own. The curriculum covers:

• Growing crops and managing broilers and layers
• Running a small agricultural business
• Basic financial literacy and planning
• A structured path from simple systems to more advanced housing

That last point matters most, according to Bruce. Students start with basic, low-cost setups - floor birds and nest boxes - and gradually work toward cages and larger-scale production, so growth feels achievable rather than abstract.

"They can see: I can start here, then as I grow, I can expand over time," he says. "It gives them a realistic roadmap."

Bruce is candid about the learning curve the IEF team went through early on. The team arrived with what he calls a "Western mindset," expecting solutions that work in Europe or the US to translate directly. They didn't.

With limited access to materials, infrastructure, and reliable electricity, every piece of technology brought into the project needs to meet a few non-negotiable criteria:

• Durable enough for demanding field conditions
• Simple to install and maintain without specialist support
• Reliable even with limited access to spare parts or technicians
• Effective without sacrificing performance for simplicity

"There's no hardware store around the corner," Bruce says. "So the goal is to take advanced technology and make it usable in a simple way, without losing performance."

That's the gap HATO's lighting systems were brought in to fill.

Lighting is easy to overlook in poultry production - until you see what changes when it's done right. Since installing HATO's system in Ebenezer's newest poultry house, the team has seen results they hadn't achieved before:

• Production above standard in the newest house
• Fast, straightforward installation, even without local technical support
• More even light distribution across the house
• A more stable environment for the birds, tied to light spectrum quality

Electricity in rural Mozambique isn't something you can count on - outages can last hours or days. 

To get around this, the project pairs HATO's lighting system with solar power, so the birds get consistent light and a stable environment regardless of what the grid is doing that day. 

Ebenezer sits inside a larger IEF effort to fight malnutrition through eggs. Across projects in Honduras and South Africa, initiatives like "1000 Days of Life" get eggs to pregnant women and young children during the most critical window of development.

Bruce recalls one family in Honduras where a mother's first two children were born underweight; her third, born after the family joined the egg program, was noticeably healthier. It's a small example of what he sees as the program's real value.

Looking ahead 

Every year, Ebenezer sends a new group of graduates out with the skills to start their own farms - some as egg producers, strengthening local supply chain by chain. With consumption still under 10 eggs per person per year, Bruce sees the potential as enormous. 

HATO is proud to support the International Egg Foundation's work at the Ebenezer Agricultural Training Centre. Contact us to learn how HATO's lighting and solar solutions can support poultry projects in demanding environments.