Families in the interior of central Mozambique – south of Tete and north of Manica – are facing increasing difficulties in accessing food and are expected to enter a phase of food crisis due to low agricultural production, according to a report released today
“Signs of crisis (IPC phase 3) will begin to emerge in October in the southern provinces of Tete and northern Manica due to a below-average level of food storage and limited household purchasing power” to turn to markets, it reads in the report of the humanitarian network of Early Warning of Hunger (network Fews, acronym English).
In the forecast for the next five months, the network places that orange zone on the country map, a sign of crisis (IPC phase 3) until now reserved only for the northern province of Cabo Delgado, due to armed violence, and to the south, because of the drought.
The IPC is an international classification on the stage in which food security is (from the English acronym Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) and ranges from one, nonexistent, to five, severe hunger.
Stored food “generally lasts until October or November, but the 2019 harvest lasted until March and the April 2020 harvest began to run out much earlier than usual, due to a widespread drop in agricultural production in 2019/20 ”, He adds. Those who have recovered from previous shocks, “including droughts in 2017/18 and 2015/16 (with the El Niño weather phenomenon), have not earned enough with the season”.
