More than 900,000 drought victims waiting for food assistance in Mozambique

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More than 900,000 drought victims waiting for food assistance in Mozambique

1:09 CAT | 17 May 2016

Mhoje_droughtassistancemozlusa_photo_jpg

Lusa (File photo)

More than 900,000 of the approximately 1.4 million affected by drought in Mozambique still need food assistance this month, the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) told Lusa yesterday.

“The government plan covers about 472,000 people and the remaining number depend for help on our partners,” the INGC’s Paulo Tomas reveals, adding that the logistics of distributing monthly assistance is the main cause of delay.

The central and southern provinces of Mozambique are the worst affected, with only 10 percent of farmers harvesting anything from the first growing season, according to the INGC.

The drought led the Mozambican government to post its ‘red alert’ in April, a strategy designed to boost assistance and provide about 580 million meticais (EUR9 million) for its food assistance contingency plan.

“Our intention is to cover all those affected,” the INGC spokesman said, noting that in the north the situation is largely under control but still requires attention.

According to the INGC, to fully address the situation, the Mozambican government needs three thousand tons of cereals and two tons of beans per month, at a cost of about US$13 million (EUR11 million) per month.

Mozambique is seasonally affected by floods as a result of its location downstream of most of Southern Africa’s river systems. Despite this, the south and centre of the country are this year affected by prolonged drought.

The drought is affecting other southern African countries as well, with Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe all declaring a state of food emergency. The drought, which has lasted for more than a year, has also affects the region’s economic powerhouse, South Africa, which declared the drought the worst for the last hundred years.

Source: Lusa