About 900 hectares of crops lost in southern Mozambique

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About 900 hectares of crops lost in southern Mozambique

1:33 CAT | 06 Mar 2017

Lusa (File photo)

Some 900 hectares of miscellaneous agricultural crops have been lost in the Guijá district of Gaza province to the rising waters of the Limpopo River, and authorities have issued an alert, official sources have told Lusa.

“The situation is complex and requires our attention,” said Guijá district administrator Arlindo Maluleque, adding that there are points at which the rise of the river destroyed bridges, constraining travel between localities.

According to Maluleque, about 650 small farmers have been affected by the floods, affecting mainly the maize and tomato crops, which are normally exported to other districts, including the capital.

“At this point, according to what we’ve been told, we will be hit by another wave and this worries us,” Maluleque says. He says that the long term solution to the problem is the construction of proper water control infrastructure.

The Director of Economic Activities in Guijá, Acácio João, told Lusa that the situation is complex and that the district government has little option but to urge people to carry on planting and take advantage of what little rain has fallen in the region after almost a year of severe drought.

“We are having problems acquiring seeds as part of our response, and we need partners quickly,” said João, adding that the district had hoped to harvest more than 121,000 hectares of miscellaneous crops by the end of the first phase of the current agricultural campaign.

The districts of Chókwè, Chibuto and Xai-Xai are similarly affected by the Limpopo exceeding alert levels, with the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) estimating that about 34,000 families have been affected. Heavy rainfall in South Africa and Zimbabwe, through which the Limpopo flows before reaching Mozambique and the Indian Ocean, is to blame.

Source: Lusa