Mozambique: Country faces worst food insecurity since 2016 – survey

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Mozambique: Country faces worst food insecurity since 2016 – survey

10:40 CAT | 24 Jun 2019

File photo: Lusa

Mozambique faces the worst food insecurity since 2016 and there is an atypically high number of families in a food shortage situation, the US Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS) organisation said.

In a Food Security Outlook titled “Atypically high humanitarian assistance needs will persist through the start of the lean season,” FEWS, an entity of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), said that the humanitarian emergency in many districts of Mozambique is caused by the passage of the cyclones Desmond, Idai and Kenneth, heavy rains and floods, in the centre and north, and by the drought, in the south.

The survey showed that 67,000 children between six and 59 months of age suffer from acute malnutrition, with 6,500 of them suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Between May and June, humanitarian assistance to populations covered 1.6 million people in the districts affected by cyclones in the centre and north of the country.

“There are, however, many households that do not receive any kind of food assistance,” the text said.

FEWS said that over one million tonnes of crops including corn, rice, groundnuts, beans and vegetables, were destroyed in the three regions of the country, due to cyclones and drought.

The cyclones destroyed fishing boats and tackle as well as infrastructures, a key livelihood for thousands of households along the coast.

“The 2018/19 crop production will be significantly below last year’s production and the 5-year average,” FEWS said.

The survey mentioned that families who still have some food in their barns may be left with nothing until next September due to a significantly low harvest.

Due to this issue, families are selling their animals, charcoal, wood, but competition and the week purchasing power of the communities limits the amount of income.