Famine and droughts for Moz

2007-03-13 15:49

Maputo - More than 150 000 people in 11 districts of the southern province of Gaza in Mozambique are faced with famine and a prolonged drought spell, Vista News reported on Monday.

Radio Mozambique reported that residents of Chicucuala, Mabalane, Chigubo, Massangena Chibuto and Guijá registered problems of lack of food.

The station said teams from the disaster management institute would be working in the affected districts to asses the situation before distribution of food parcels.

Ironically the latest development comes after thousands of hectares of fields were destroyed in the central and northern provinces of the country by cyclone induced rains which caused flooding since January 15.

More than 100 000 people who were displaced in the floods are threatened with food shortages.

The United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) warned last week that erratic weather in some southern African countries could result in widespread food shortages.

The WFP noted that flooding in parts of Angola, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia had washed away tens of thousands of hectares of crop, while a prolonged dry spell in parts of Lesotho, Namibia, southern Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and South Africa has damaged or destroyed harvests of the staple maize crop.

WFP regional director for southern Africa, Amir Abdulla, said his organisation, currently assisting 4.3 million people in southern Africa, was faced with a shortfall of about $97m to see it through the end of 2007.

- SAPA