Mozambique: Cabo Delgado, Nampula & Niassa Humanitarian Snapshot - January 2024
in file CoM
The increase in fuel prices is expected to slow the recovery of poor urban families in Mozambique who were benefiting from the easing of Covid-19 of restrictions, a humanitarian surveillance report warns.
“The 12 and 15 percent increase in gasoline and diesel prices respectively [announced on March 16] is likely to increase the cost of living and slow economic recovery, particularly for poor urban households” the Famine Early Warning Network (FEWS) document reads.
The new prices reflect the increase in crude oil prices on the international market.
“The national bakery association has also announced that bread prices will soon increase due to the increase in global wheat prices. Rising fuel and bread prices are likely to reduce household purchasing power, although the impact of ongoing mitigation measures is yet to be determined,” the report notes.
The document states that the increase in fuel prices has already “resulted in ‘chapas’ (passenger mini-bus) drivers temporarily stopping operations in protest over the rise in operating costs”.
The increase in fuel prices “is likely to increase transportation costs and the cost of goods transactions and staple items”.
The impact caused by the rise in the price of fuel comes at a time when Mozambique’s agricultural production is expected to fall compared to previous years because of adverse weather conditions.
The Fews network also predicts that the start of the harvest “will be postponed by a month in most of Mozambique, except in Maputo province, where the main harvest has already started”.
“The delay in the harvest will likely prolong the lean season and keep food prices from seasonally declining,” it concludes.
In Mozambique, more than 2.9 million people face severe food insecurity, and malnutrition affects almost half the children under five years of age, according to the World Food Program (WFP).
ALSO READ: The 2021/2022 harvest is likely to be delayed by a month across most of Mozambique
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