Guludo Beach Lodge, Mozambique

Winner, 2011 Community Benefit Award

Situated in the Quirimbas National Park, Northern Mozambique, this lodge opened in 2006 after four careful years of scoping in one of Mozambique's most deprived areas. Guludo Beach Lodge is a commercial enterprise that operates using fair trade principles, and its associated charity, the Nema Foundation, works with 16 local communities to implement projects.

The lodge stimulates the local economy and develops skills while the charity tackles the root causes of poverty and environmental degradation.

The core pillars of the charity's work are: 1) health, including HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention and support, nutrition and mother & infant care programmes; 2) education, spanning from school meal provision to scholarships for secondary schools; 3) care of orphaned and vulnerable children; 4) agricultural programmes; 5) fair trade principles; and 6) cultural revivals. These projects are based on the UN Millennium Development Goals and have been responsible for providing 15,000 people with access to safe drinking water, the distribution of 8,000 mosquito nets, nutrition workshops for 1,800 families.Infant mortality has fallen from 30% to 21% over the last five years. Guludo Beach Lodge employs 80 local staff and has contracted 150 local suppliers and 64 traditional artisans. These direct beneficiaries support over 3,500 people in the area.

Guludo Beach Lodge and the Nema Foundation have been widely recognised for their poverty reduction projects. To export and promote this successful approach, Guludo founders have established "Thin Cats Thinking", a consultancy that enables other hotels and resorts around the world to achieve the same success as Guludo.