Commercial avocado plantation and nursery in Mozambique The project is located in Sussendenga (near Chimoio) in the Beira corridor. It will be implemented by the applicant Amorentia Estate & Nursery (South Africa) and the local partner Mac-In-Moz (Mozambique). It concerns a 150 ha avocado plantation and a high tech avocado nursery.The joint venture will start to grow two types of avocado (the Hass and the Maluma Hass type) both for export purposes. The main markets are South Africa and Europe, but the grow market will be certainly Asia. Since the climate is that favourable, the joint venture will be able to harvest avocados about two months earlier than in South Africa extending the availability period of avocados in South Africa but most probably also for Europe.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)It is indicated that both partners are excellent examples with regard to CRS. The CSR charter of the local partner will be the basis of the joint venture's CSR policy: the new joint venture staff will receive an above average salary, a health clinic will be open for the employees as well as their families at no costs. No child labour will be tolerated. Especially in the high level management, there will be a mix between gender and race.Impact•	Employment and working conditionsThe official minimum wage is about USD 83 while the project will pay USD 121. It is indicated that this is higher than the living wages. Sound labour contracts will be drafted which encompasses the description of the working conditions which are considered good. For fringe benefits a clinic will be free of charge for the employees and their families and regular check-ups will be carried out.The verification visit to the local partner provided sufficient evidence that labour conditions, fringe benefits etc will be not an issue in this project.•	Innovation / Transfer of knowledgeAlthough the end product itself (avocado) is not new in Mozambique, the present production capacity is - in contrast to the pre-war level - almost zero for the local market and non-existing for the export market. It will be the start of the revitalisation of this sub-sector. At present, no avocado plantation and nursery exist on commercial basis although at least one other initiative might take off before the end of 2013 if sufficiently cash can be raised.The set-up of the nursery will be more sophisticated than of a macadamia one due to the fact that the avocado seedlings and trees are prone to root rot fungus (Phytophtora). This requires another set-up of nursery. Moreover a high-tech way of growing seedlings will reduce that risk significantly; the partners were able to secure the licence to apply this new technology which is being applied successfully in South Africa.•	Chain effectsImpact on local suppliersThe project will purchase much of the raw material to be used locally (like graft wood, plastic bags, crates, cocopeat, herbicides and insecticides and fertiliser etc) with exception of the initial number of trees and seeds, although in a later stage of the project some of these items will be produced on the farm itself or might be also purchased locally.Impact on local customers or consumersInitially, the impact on local customers or local consumers is limited: most of the avocados are exported and only a limited amount will be available for local customers and consumers; clients for the seedlings will be the farmers (from Mozambique as well as South Africa) presently investigating opportunities to start avocado plantations and who are in need of high quality, virus free material which is approved by South African relevant authorities (Agricultural Research Council). In a later stage, an outgrower scheme will be established but this is beyond the scope of the PSI project.•	Impact on the sectorSince there are no commercial avocado plantations yet, there is no active policy on these parties. However, the local partner organises open days for everybody including potential clients and suppliers. In fact they provide information to South African farmers which might become in the future their competitors.•	EnvironmentThe project will apply the Integrated Pest Management approach as well as the use of biodegradable plastic if available and the use of cocopeat to limit the impact on environment.•	Position of womenTwenty-seven women will be hired for basic-level jobs and two for medium-high level jobs. That is respectively 20% and 40%.•	Impact on food safetyThe avocado fruit is considered to be healthy, however only a limited fraction of the fruit is meant for the Mozambican market.•	Impact on waterThe project will not actively contribute to availability of water. The aim of the project is to establish an avocado plantation and nursery with an estimated production of about 150 tons Hass and 80 tons of Maluma Hass avocados mainly for the export market and about 12,000 plants from the nursery for local and export mar