Watch: Mozambique and Angola ports can boost regional response to Covid-19 pandemic – WFP

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Watch: Mozambique and Angola ports can boost regional response to Covid-19 pandemic – WFP

3:42 CAT | 20 Apr 2020

File- Beira port. [File photo: Cornelder Moçambique]

Lola Castro, regional director of the World Food Program (WFP) for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean, says ports in Mozambique and Angola could help alleviate the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic in southern Africa.

In a video made for UN News, Castro explains how operations must be adapted to respond to the Covid-19 crisis in the region.

“The Southern Africa operation at this time is dedicated to feeding people affected by drought and helping those affected by the cyclones that hit Mozambique last year. Now, because of Covid-19, we need to work differently. When Covid-19 reaches the region, it will affect precisely those people who are victims of food insecurity in both rural and urban areas, ” Castro says.

Transmission of the virus forces the attention onto various groups, including patients with other diseases. But many have been forced to move their from areas of origin or are starving because of rising food prices, livestock losses and rising unemployment.

“Especially, we see in Angola how refugees in the north of the country have problems returning home to the Democratic Republic of Congo. So Covid-19 is affecting countries in the region, such as Mozambique and Angola, in a very big way.”

The agency is already supporting millions of families across the region, where many are eating less, skipping meals, taking children out of school, selling assets and getting into debt.

The WFP recently asked for additional financial support for essential services in areas such as transportation, storage and engineering in areas affected by the pandemic.

Agency technicians conduct cargo tracking operations, support warehouses and service across Africa in collaboration with Africa’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. But the two Portuguese-speaking countries have a determining role in the area.

“At the moment, we are changing our modes of distribution. We normally distribute food to large groups, but now we have to have small groups of people. We also need protection for NGOs and WFP staff working in distribution. It is also very important to keep the ports open. Ports such as Luanda in Angola, and Maputo and Beira in Mozambique, are very important for the entire southern African region.”

For the World Food Program, Covid-19 is a new threat, and has altered activities in an area where 16 countries started the year with a record 45 million people facing food insecurity.

In addition to its Covid-19 response, WFP supports victims of recurrent droughts, floods and economic issues mostly affecting women and children in the Southern African Development Community.