“We have lost around 257,754 hectares and these have affected around 231,920 families, who have lost areas during this agricultural campaign,” said Odete Naftal, quoted by the media on Tuesday.
According to the representative, the situation that has affected eight districts in the province is caused by “prolonged drought”, which has contributed to low agricultural production this year.
“Although we’ve launched the 2024/2025 agricultural campaign, we still haven’t had any rain except on the plateau, the southern part [of the province] still hasn’t seen any rain,” she explained.
She also said that agricultural inputs, seeds, pesticides and fertilisers have already been donated to the affected families.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) recently estimated that around 4.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Mozambique, with $64 million (€60.6 million) needed to meet the needs.
“The multiple crises currently affecting Mozambique – conflict, drought and public health emergencies – are straining humanitarian resources. Around 4.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance (10% of people with disabilities), including 3.4 million children,” reads a statement from Unicef.
In September, the United Nations (UN) said that nearly two million people needed humanitarian assistance in the country.
“This year, Mozambique was affected by the drought induced by the El Niño phenomenon during the 2023-2024 season. Around 1.8 million people are estimated to face food insecurity between next October and March 2025. Faced with this situation, the need for humanitarian assistance for the affected communities has been increasing, especially in Mozambique’s central and southern regions,” explained the organisation.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by global climate change, facing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, from October to April.
El Niño is a change in atmospheric dynamics caused by increased ocean temperature. This meteorological phenomenon is also causing torrential rains in East Africa, which have already caused hundreds of deaths in several countries, such as Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, Somalia and Ethiopia.
