Some 1.6 million people in cyclone-stricken areas of Mozambique are at risk of food insecurity at least until September 2019, while 67,500 children are in need of nutritional support, with some 90 percent of them acutely malnourished, according to recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification results.
The food security situation is expected to further deteriorate during the lean season from October 2019 to February 2020, with 1.9 million people at risk of food insecurity.
Minda Guisado, tries to salvage what she can from her former home damaged in Cyclone Idai. She is a 34-year-old widow raising three children with the help of her mother. Local officials said her former home is in a flood zone and have allotted her a small plot of land to live and farm on in a resettlement camp several kilometers away.
Cyclone Idai hit on March 14, 2019 leaving 1.7 million people in need of food and an estimated 400,000 hectares of crops washed away just weeks ahead of the main April–May harvest.
In regional capital Beira, many homes and buildings are still without roofs.
“This is our reality,” said Beira mayor Daviz Simango. “People now are suffering. They need to rebuild their buildings. Most of them don’t have the resources to do that.”
The mayor appealed to developed countries – who are largely responsible for global greenhouse gas emissions and the subsequent climate change that is believed to be behind such devastating cyclones like Kenneth and Idai.
“They must change their habit. They must understand that what is happening on that side is affecting we [us] here…innocent people,” said Simango. “They do not understand that for what bad they are doing that side, they are killing people on the other side,” he added.
World Food Programme is planning to provide food assistance for a total of 1,200,000 people per month, with 800,000 people in the central districts, 150,000 people in the northern districts and 250,000 in the districts in the southern zone affected by drought.
In Bairro Unidade Resettlement Area, the WFP is distributing food to displaced people who lost their homes in Cyclone Idai. Around 300 cyclone displaced families currently live in the camp. They are given small plots to grow food and many have restarted their businesses and trade.
Minda Guisado received a one-month worth ration of rice, beans, maize flour, cooking oil and salt at WFP distribution.
Castro Antonio Amoro Ischombi is a tailor living in the resettlement area. He has salvaged his sewing machine and begun to work again.
Mozambique was affected by several consecutive natural shocks in the first months of 2019 that affected people’s food and nutrition security. In January, Tropical Storm Desmond caused excessive rains and floods in Sofala, Tete and Zambézia; in March, Cyclone Idai affected the center of the country; in April Cyclone Kenneth that affected Cabo Delgado; irregular rainfall patterns and pest attack on cereal crops; violence and insurgency in Cabo Delgado.
WFP is currently transitioning from the emergency phase to the early recovery phase, expected to last until March 2020, which corresponds to the next main harvest season and the end of the lean season. The next phase will help foster the recovery of the most vulnerable people affected who will continue to face food insecurity over the next months.
The current food insecurity and acute malnutrition situation was caused by multiple shocks: the scarcity of rain and pests countrywide; the central zone was severely hit by cyclones Desmond and Idai; the northern zone hit by cyclone Kenneth and insurgency in Cabo Delgado. This resulted in great agricultural losses, destruction of infrastructures, goods and disruption of livelihoods;
To date, funds confirmed cover only 50 percent of the needs~WFP
