Food aid is needed for 659 000 people in Mozambique or 3,8% of the country’s population until the next harvest, beginning in January in the southern region and February-March in the central region, according to the latest Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews Net) report.
The retail price of white maize is beginning to increase in some markets of central Mozambique even through these markets are not in areas where production was poor this year.
“This rise is attributed to an increase in the number of traders in the region who are buying maize. Prices in the northern areas remain stable, whereas those in the south remain high,” the report said.
The country could face breaks in the food aid pipeline if the regional emergency programme is not fully funded.
The World Food Programme can cover 100% of needs only until September, when the pipeline for all commodities will dry up.
Mozambique’s main season harvest has been completed and attention has shifted to the second season’s progress. The second season is reported to be good so far and may help some of the drought-affected areas recover, Fews Net said.
The 2002/03 main season’s performance saw bumper crops in the north, near total crop failure in the south and a mixed picture in parts of the centre.
The 2003/04 season may be a mixed picture due to a lack of input availability, the report said.
“This is the case because households in drought-affected areas are likely to have less seed available this year, both because their production was low last year, and because they needed to plant fields more than once where crops failed due to poor weather conditions,” the report said. – I-Net Bridge