More than half a million people in Mozambique are in need of urgent food as the country faces a severe food shortage. The deputy director of Mozambique’s National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC), Joao Ribeiro, said the number of people facing famine is expected to rise from 520,000 to 600,000 between now and April 2008.
After a year of drought, cyclone Favio and flood, 30 percent of agriculture in southern and central Mozambique has diminished. Flooding killed 4700 people and left half a million homeless. Cyclone Favio displaced nearly 140,000 and malnutrition rate continue to rise in drought-hit regions.
The Mozambique government intends to find a national solution before requesting aid from the international community. According to the Territorial Administration Minister Lucas Chomera, one strategy is to take excess food from the northern region and redistribute them to the southern and central regions.
For more information please see:
Reuters – Mozambique faces food shortages left by floods – 09 August 2007
Yahoo – Over 520,000 people need urgent food aid in Mozambique – 09 August 2007
