Large amounts of protein in the diet of humans and monogastric animals in Mozambique come from maize (Zea mays L.). Reports from the Ministry of Health indicate that severe malnutrition occurs frequently in rural areas, where maize is the main staple food, due mainly to the inaccessibility of high-quality protein foods. Introducing quality protein maize (QPM) varieties in rural communities may be a good yet inexpensive way to help mitigate malnutrition in Mozambique. The National Agronomic Research Institute (INIA) Maize Program has been developing QPM varieties to respond to this need since 1998. QPM inbred lines from Pool 15Q and E-5Q inbred line were crossed with adapted normal ones, from Matuba and Rampur 8075 DMR, to develop new QPM germplasm. The S1 and FS recurrent selection method was used to develop early white-flint QPM varieties resistant to maize streak virus and downy mildew. Early-generation QPM materials were crossed with Obatanpa, Pop 62Q and Pop 63Q, SIW91Q and Pool 15Q to create five QPM interpopulations and start other FS recurrent selections. Selection criteria were grain modification, flintiness, and resistance to streak and downy mildew. This breeding resulted in 12 QPM populations and several inbred lines. From 2002 to 2004, 10 new populations plus improved Obatanpa (Sussuma) were evaluated across the country. Advanced inbred lines were top-crossed to Sussuma and CML144Q x CML159Q and evaluated in 2004 in two sites. An alpha-lattice design with three replications per site was used for the yield trials. ANOVA was carried out using SAS software. Results on grain yield across years, combined with locations, showed the highest average means in Umbeluzi (3.94 t ha–1), while Namialo (2.17 t ha–1) had the lowest value. Comparison between QPM and common maize did not show significant differences, indicating that the QPM genotypes are performing as well as the normal open-pollinated varieties marketed in Mozambique. Sussuma (3.73 t ha–1) and SYN-6Q (3.17 t ha–1) performed better than the other genotypes. Entries having E-5Q as their opaque-2 donor yielded consistently lower than those originated from crosses with Poll 15 Q lines.