Mozambique: Montepuez Ruby Mining offers displaced families five tonnes of seeds

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Mozambique: Montepuez Ruby Mining offers displaced families five tonnes of seeds

12:58 CAT | 28 Dec 2022

Photo courtesy: Montepuez Ruby Mining

Montepuez Rubi Mining (MRM), which mines rubies in northern Mozambique, has offered five and a half tonnes of seeds of various crops to families affected by armed attacks in northern Mozambique, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The provision of seeds is made to support families that have recently returned to their areas of residence and that, having been far away, have not been able to prepare the fields for the current agricultural campaign,” MRM said in the statement sent to the media today.

The seeds, “certified and with high production potential,” were distributed to 412 families from two communities in Ancuabe and Montepuez districts, affected “by attacks attributed to insurgent activity on 20 October 2022,” the document said.

“This offer comes at the right time because we are in the sowing season. We thank the company for the gesture, and we are sure that these seeds will help us take care of our families,” said Inácio Geraldo, chief of the village of Mpene, one of the beneficiaries of the initiative, quoted in the statement.

The five and a half tons of seeds of maize, beans, peanuts and sesame represent funding of around 1 million meticais (€14,700), according to Montepuez Ruby Mining.

Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM) has around 34,000 hectares of concession for ruby mining in Cabo Delgado and is the main investor in ruby extraction in Mozambique, and is 75% owned by the Gemfields group and 25% by Mozambican company Mwiriti Limitada.

Cabo Delgado province has faced an armed insurgency for five years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged south of the region and in neighbouring Nampula province.

The conflict has left one million people displaced, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and about 4,000 dead, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

Source: Lusa