Mozambican displaced people abandon government’s farming scheme in central Mozambique

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambican displaced people abandon government’s farming scheme in central Mozambique

3:07 CAT | 03 Apr 2017

Delays in seed delivery have led to the failure of a food sustainability pilot project for internally displaced people in the Vanduzi camp, in Manica province.

The food sustainability pilot project involving 79 families (583 people) displaced from their homes in 2016 was set up following the conflict between the government and Renamo, the Mozambican National Resistance.

According to the manager of the Vanduzi shelter camp, Domingo Janeiro, families received one-hectare plots of land to produce food on the eve of the 2016-17 agricultural campaign, but only received the seeds this month, already at the harvest stage.

Of the initial group, 69 households left the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) project.

“Of the 79 families that had received plots, 69 abandoned the scheme because of how far away the plots were and because of the late delivery or total lack of seeds from the government,” Janeiro said. Seeds were only delivered last week, well past planting time for rain-dependent agriculture.

Mosambik Flüchtlingslager in Vanduzi — Children in Vanduzi

The threat of hunger

The displaced people say the four hours’ distance from the accommodation centre and the plots allocated and the distribution of seed out of season by the government make the agricultural campaign unsustainable.

“Hunger is still a severe problem,” Janeiro said. At such a late stage, no production can be expected, especially of maize, which means that the displaced remain totally dependent on government support .

The last food distribution was made on February 15, for the period to March 24. The displaced people had not received anything from the INGC support program for more than a month.

Those displaced justify abandoning the project with inconsistencies in the government’s program. “Apart from the plots being too far away, no one produces corn at this time,” said Abel João, who has been living at the centre with six members of his family since September 2016.

Despite a second two-month extension of the truce – until May 4 – thousands of displaced people in the six accommodation centres in Manica remain undecided about returning home to areas affected by the conflict.

Source: Deutsche Welle