The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that more than three million Mozambicans are currently experiencing acute food insecurity, especially in the province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique.
According to a report released on Thursday, 11 January, the organisation reveals that between May and September, 2.6 million Mozambicans were in need of urgent assistance, pointing out that around 126,000 people were in phase 4 of the Integrated Food Security Index (IPC).
The report adds that by March 2024, 3.3 million people will face “acute food insecurity or higher”, which is equivalent to stage 3 of the IPC.
“In Cabo Delgado province, 21 per cent of the population in the districts affected by climate shocks and terrorism need emergency food or high level assistance,” the organisation explains.
However, as a way of reversing the scenario, the FAO reveals that it is providing high-quality certified seeds to farmers to ensure that they are able to produce food during the main agricultural season. “For Cabo Delgado, we plan to deliver kits to 24,600 households and support 123,000 people with maize and bean seeds and agricultural tools.”
“In Gaza province, in the south of the country, we are helping the most vulnerable families to avoid food shortages during the peak of the dry season. Through this action, we aim to support 2,500 families, totalling 12,500 people,” explains the document.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, facing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs from October to April.
The 2018-19 rainy season was one of the most severe on record in Mozambique: 714 people died, including 648 victims of cyclones Idai and Kenneth, two of the biggest ever to hit the country.
In the first quarter of last year, heavy rains and the passage of Cyclone Freddy through the country caused 306 deaths, affected more than 1.3 million people and destroyed 236,000 homes and 3,200 classrooms.
