Mozambique: Displaced people ask for more food in humanitarian crisis

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Mozambique: Displaced people ask for more food in humanitarian crisis

2:52 CAT | 27 Jul 2020

Photo: Ricardo Franco/Lusa

Felisberto Amade is 67 years old, he is the head of a neighbourhood in Pemba, the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado and said he cannot remember a humanitarian crisis like this.

“I have never seen a situation like this before,” he said at the door of the Casa da Cultura, the site chosen for another World Food Programme (WFP) emergency food aid distribution to those displaced by armed violence in Cabo Delgado

There are 250,000 people affected and Pemba is the haven for many, in the homes of family and friends who have suddenly welcomed more than ten, sometimes 20 or 30 people.

On Monday, the WFP is distributing aid to dozens of families on a list that it helped draw up, but what they get to eat is not enough for anything, he said, adding that some come out of there crying.

Each household receives 50 kilos of cereals (on Monday corn has been distributed), six kilos of beans or lentils, and five litres of oil, an estimated amount for 30 days, for every five people – with larger families receiving in the proper proportion.

But Cristina Graziani, WFP’s head of office in Cabo Delgado, said that the numbers of displaced people are large, the needs are many and those on the run join host families who have many challenges in responding to the food situation.

All aggravated in an economic scenario of contraction because of Covid-19.

The tide of displaced people is such that WFP will change its support to include more displaced families. They are expecting to support 200,000 people next month and include host families in the aid process.

In June 112,000 families were assisted in Cabo Delgado, which is expected to rise to 176,000 by the end of this month and to reach 200,000 in August.

The aid already extends to the province of Nampula, in the south, and to that of Nissa, in the west, which also receives displaced persons.

“In cooperation with the government, we are trying to reopen the operation in the north,” an area of greater insecurity and where there are still many displaced people.

At the same time, from September onwards, the support system will be introduced in Pemba through a voucher, used by WFP in other regions and which will allow host families to exchange for food or hygiene products in local commerce.

In the distribution in the open space of the Casa da Cultura in Pemba, in cooperation with the government, a few hundred family members joined, identified themselves one by one and received the password that gave them access to the food aid kit.

Before they receive information on how to prevent Covid-19 and the queues are marked according to the norms of social distancing.

Attacks by armed groups that have been terrorizing Cabo Delgado since 2017 have killed at least a thousand civilians, Mozambican military, and several rebels.

The United Nations estimates that 250,000 people are fleeing the most affected districts, more than 10% of the province’s population of about 2.3 million.

Source: Lusa