Food aid reaches less than half of people in need in Mozambique – report

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Food aid reaches less than half of people in need in Mozambique – report

2:26 CAT | 06 Nov 2020

Projected food security outcomes, February to May 2021. (FEWS NET classification is IPC-compatible. IPC-compatible analysis follows key IPC protocols but does not necessarily reflect the consensus of national food security partners). [Image: FEWS Net]

It is estimated that food aid to Mozambique will reach less than half of those in need in the next five months, according to a Food Security Outlook Update released today by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS): “ Conflict, drought, and COVID-19 drive high food assistance needs through May 2021“.

“Food assistance is expected to cover less than half of the needs estimated by the network from November to March 2021, and some families are likely to remain in ‘crisis’ – phase three of the IPC,” the report reads.

The IPC – Integrated Food Security Phase Classification – is an international food security classification which varies from one (non-existent) to five (severe hunger).

Most of the assistance directed to the 435,000 displaced by armed violence in the north of the country, had by September however reached only around 274,000, but is expected to reach a maximum of 367,000 monthly by March.

The network however predicts that the number of displaced people will increase, with families “likely to remain in crisis (IPC phase 3)” and others, in more remote locations, in an emergency (IPC phase 4).

In addition to Cabo Delgado, humanitarian assistance is trying to help end famine for families affected by drought in the south and in recovery from Cyclone Idai in the centre of the country, where there are also pockets of military instability.

According to the periodic report on food insecurity in Mozambique, which offers a map where each colour corresponds to the seriousness of the situation, this year brings a new aggravating factor: the Covid-19 pandemic, which has spread food insecurity to many families in urban areas.

For the next few months, “normal rainfall” in the country is expected to favour agricultural production, but in Cabo Delgado “families in areas directly affected by the conflict will be travelling to safe areas instead of engaging in agricultural activities”.

Families who have savings will depend on the markets until the new harvest, starting in April, but “high prices, including maize grain and flour, will limit the already reduced purchasing power of families”, especially in the north of the country.

In Cabo Delgado, insecurity also undermines “efforts to contain outbreaks of cholera and diarrhoea, as health professionals continue to flee, especially from areas affected by the conflict” – a situation that will increase acute malnutrition, especially among children, the report notes.

Fishing, which feeds almost the entire coastal zone of the province, “is expected to continue being interrupted” by rebel actions, “limiting coastal families’ access to food and income”.

According to World Food Program (WFP) figures, of Mozambique’s 28 million inhabitants, 80% do not have access to adequate food, and 42.3% of children under the age of five face problems of malnutrition. More than 1.6 million people in the country face severe food insecurity, according to the WFP.

FEWS, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, brings together North American organisations and serves as a tool for humanitarian action.

You may access the full document ‘Mozambique Food Security Outlook Update October 2020 to May 2021 – Conflict, drought, and COVID-19 drive high food assistance needs through May 2021’ HERE

Source: Lusa