Africa-Press – Mozambique. A total of 930,000 people in northern Mozambique, affected by an armed insurgency, will need humanitarian food support at least until harvest in May, according to a report consulted on Tuesday by Lusa.
“The needs for humanitarian food assistance are likely to remain high at least until the harvest in May 2022,” says the latest summary of the Famine Early Warning Network (Fews network), which supports the actions of government and humanitarian agencies.
The World Food Programme (WFP) predicts that “more than 930,000 IDPs and host families in Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula are likely to require humanitarian food assistance” by that time, it said.
However, due to limited resources, “WFP plans to continue providing six-monthly rations equivalent to 39 per cent of daily kilocalories”, meaning giving less at a time to make the aid last longer.
Underfunding of humanitarian organisations has been repeatedly reported from Cabo Delgado.
At the same time, there are reports of displaced people returning to their home areas to try to resume their activities after military interventions have overwhelmed the insurgency since July.
Even so, according to the report, most families are expected to remain in conflict-free areas for at least the next rainy season – which runs until April.
The situation in Cabo Delgado is the most concerning in the food security forecast for the country in the coming months, with the rest of the regions facing minimal risks, which may, however, be threatened in some river areas by the usual flood risks until April.
Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorised since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
The conflict has led to more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.
Since July, an offensive by government troops with support from Rwanda which was later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) allowed for increased security, recovering several areas where there was rebel presence, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020.
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