Honors Horticulture Student Olivia Caillouet Presents, Publishes Mozambican Research

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Olivia Caillouet, in Mozambique, proudly displays the first carrot harvest of the season. Photo courtesy Olivia Caillouet.

Three weeks of dusty field work in Nampula, Mozambique, have opened up international research opportunities for Olivia Caillouet, an honors horticulture senior in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. Caillouet analyzed the profitability of maize, tomato, carrot and cabbage crops (view her photo journal blog post, Growing A Brighter Future) while participating in the Global Community Development in Mozambique program. Lanier Nalley, associate professor of agricultural economics, directed her research. She recently presented her findings at the International People Plant Symposium, which was hosted by the International Society of Horticultural Science in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Caillouet gave a 20-minute oral presentation at the conference and also submitted a paper that will be published in the conference proceedings. 

"It was a great opportunity to showcase my undergraduate research and represent the U of A in South America," she said. "I learned so much from this trip."

The Mozambique program, led by U of A faculty, focuses on New Horizons, a poultry farm on a mission to change lives through job creation and education. New Horizons has encouraged workers who raise chicks to supplement their income — and diet — by planting vegetables as cash crops. Caillouet's project looked at the total cost of input, yield and market price for four different crops. One vegetable emerged as the clear winner: maize. 

"Maize has the lowest upfront investment: seeds and urea mixed into soil, and it's rain fed, which lowers the cost of labor," Caillouet said. Other crops such as tomatoes and cabbage required fungicides, pesticides and hand watering, which increase production cost. 

"Demand for maize in the area played a crucial part as well, because it's consumed by humans and chickens, and there's a strong poultry industry in Nampula thanks to New Horizons."

Currently, New Horizons imports approximately 50 percent of the maize needed for chicken feed from Brazil and South Africa, with that percentage fluctuating based on the value of Mozambique's currency. Locally grown maize could have a significant impact on Nampula's economy over time. 

"Mozambique's currency has devalued 30 percent since January, and continues to slide," Caillouet said. "The more the farmers rely on imports while the Mozambique currency devalues, the less feed they can get per kilogram."

An Honors College study abroad grant made it possible for Caillouet to participate in the Mozambique service learning program. Her travel cost to the symposium was supported by a Bumpers College Research and Conference Travel Award. She has attended five conferences and presented at four of them.