The Mozambican government disclosed on Tuesday in Maputo its fear that more than 790,000 people may be affected by the drought, which is currently affecting particularly two southern provinces that are already facing acute food insecurity.
“The drought is also affecting other Mozambican provinces, but the situation is most critical in Gaza and Inhambane, where about 138,000 people are being affected,” Mouzinho Saide, spokesperson of the Mozambican cabinet told journalists after a ministerial council meeting in the Mozambican capital.
The National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC), which is responsible for coordinating disaster risk management at the national level, said last week the situation is putting at risk the agricultural activity, which forms the basic livelihood of the population in the remote areas where most Mozambicans live, after the country was affected by the floods during last rainy season.
According to the figures released by INGC, the agricultural sector overall in Mozambique has lost 171,000 hectares of crops during the past year, the equivalent to three percent of the area under cultivation across the country.
INGC pointed out that two percent were destroyed by last rainy season’s floods in the centre and north of the country, while the other one percent comprises the currently drought-hit areas in southern Mozambique.
Mozambique’s Prime Minister Agostinho do Rosario visited some of the most affected areas in Gaza province last week, where he announced that his government was putting food assistance plans into action to meet the needs of people affected, especially in Chigubo and Chokwe districts in Gaza, where more than 22 water tanks of 5,000 litres are needed.
INGC has revealed that in Chigubo, the hardest-hit district so far, more than 2,500 families have been affected by drought and about 5,000 heads of cattle were reported to have died. Enditem
