Mozambique: 100 hectares of crops submerged in Limpopo
Nine thousand smallholders abandon Cabo Delgado fields due to violence
10:06 CAT | 02 Aug 2019
File photo: Notícias
About 9,000 smallholder have abandoned nearly 13,000 hectares of farmland in Mocimboa da Praia, Cabo Delgado province, because of the ongoing armed violence in the region, local authorities announced on Monday.
“The [cultivated] area planned for this growing season has been abandoned because of the evildoers’ action. In fact, the level of production we had anticipated is not the level we are going to have,” private TV channel on Tuesday STV quoted Neves Salaova, of the Mocímboa da Praia District Economic Activities Service, as saying.
Salaova said a total of 9,000 smallholders had abandoned their plots in the district where the first attack in Cabo Delgado took place in October 2017.
“We were expecting 156,000 tons, but now we think we will have only about 89,000 tons – quite a significant reduction,” Salaova added.
Attacks since 2017
Cabo Delgado province, the scene of intense activity by oil multinationals preparing to extract natural gas there, has been the scene of attacks which have killed more than 200 people since October 2017.
Dozens of arrests in the region have failed to contain the violence, with attacks multiplying and the Defence and Security Forces accused of human rights abuses.
The United Nations has already warned of the rise of “terrorist groups” and increased drug trafficking in Mozambique, especially in the north, saying it considered the country more vulnerable after two cyclones battered the country this year, one hitting Cabo Delgado particularly hard.
Source: Lusa
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