Mozambique has been included in a new programme launched by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and financed by Sweden to the value of €6.9 million, aimed at strengthening responses to food crises and building the resilience of communities dependent on agriculture.
Within Mozambique, the initiative will benefit 9,000 smallholder farming families in Gaza province who have been affected by recurrent droughts and floods. Support will take the form of distributions of climate-adapted seeds and training in resilient agricultural practices.
The funding was approved by Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and will be channelled into FAO’s Special Fund for Emergency and Resilience Activities. The contribution, equivalent to 75 million Swedish kronor, will finance activities between July and December 2026 across four priority contexts: Mozambique, Afghanistan, Syria, and the Gaza Strip.
Of the total amount, approximately €5.5 million will be directed towards emergency agricultural response, while around €1.4 million will be reserved for anticipatory risk management actions. In Mozambique, support will focus on the recovery of food production during the main agricultural season in areas of Gaza province classified under Phase 3 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
That classification, designated as ‘Crisis’, applies to situations in which households face significant difficulties in accessing food or are only able to meet minimum nutritional needs through strategies that risk undermining their future livelihoods.
According to FAO, farmers covered by the programme will receive climate-adapted seed kits and training in climate-smart agriculture, with the objective of increasing their capacity to withstand droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events.
A senior FAO official noted that emergency agriculture continues to play a central role in protecting populations affected by food crises. “Emergency agriculture is a fundamental pillar of food security, and the evidence shows that acting early can save lives at a fraction of the cost of a late response,” the official stated.
According to the 2026 Global Report on Food Crises, cited by FAO, approximately 266 million people across 47 countries are facing high levels of acute food insecurity — nearly double the figure recorded in 2016. Of that total, 39 million people are in a situation of food emergency, while around 1.4 million are facing conditions classified as catastrophic.
Funding destined for Mozambique will be channelled through the Special Fund for Emergency and Resilience Activities, established to enable FAO to rapidly mobilise resources for the protection of livelihoods and the recovery of agricultural production in crisis situations.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/07/15/negocios/agronegocios/fao-mocambique-integra-programa-de-69-milhoes-de-euros-contra-crise-alimentar/
