Mozambique Archives - World Food Program USA

Washington, DC | Feb. 6, 2022 – Our hearts go out to those impacted by Cyclone Batsirai, which made landfall on the east coast of Madagascar on Saturday evening with wind gusts of 146 mph. At least six people are confirmed dead and nearly 50,000 displaced to date. Whole villages are reported to be almost completely wiped out. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that as many as 150,000 could be forced to leave their homes. In a double whammy for vulnerable communities, the cyclone comes hot on the heels of Storm Ana two weeks ago, which severely damaged livelihoods, agricultural land, and key infrastructure in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.

World Food Program USA is closely monitoring the unfolding crisis and stands ready to support the U.N. World Food Programme’s emergency response. In anticipation of Cyclone Batsirai, the U.N. World Food Programme pre-positioned 50 metric tons of food to quickly provide assistance. The U.N. World Food Programme is also strengthening its supply chain and IT capacities to support the government’s emergency response.

“We stand committed to the people of Madagascar and will do everything we can to reach vulnerable families in their time of need,” said Barron Segar, President and CEO of World Food Program USA. “But we can’t do it without the support of donors. Please join us as we work to provide urgent relief to storm victims.”

In Southern Africa, where livelihoods and economies are highly dependent on weather fluctuations, frequent climate extremes like cyclones are driving hunger and eroding development. With no time or means to recover, communities rely on humanitarian assistance. In Madagascar, the U.N. World Food Programme helps communities build resilience so they can withstand shocks and protect development. This work is key to mitigating the impacts of increasingly frequent and destructive storms that increase food insecurity.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

World Food Program USA, a 501©(3) organization based in Washington, DC, proudly supports the mission of the United Nations World Food Programme by mobilizing American policymakers, businesses and individuals to advance the global movement to end hunger. Our leadership and support help to bolster an enduring American legacy of feeding families in need around the world. To learn more about World Food Program USA’s mission, please visit wfpusa.org/mission-history.

Media Contact:
Toula Athas
Director, Communications
tathas@wfpusa.org
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EMBA, CABO DELGADO – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns that without urgent funding, one of the world’s fastest-growing displacement crises in northern Mozambique risks becoming a hunger emergency as families continue to flee insurgent violence.

“The conflict has destroyed people’s jobs, lives and hopes for the future. Insurgents have ripped families apart, burning their homes, traumatizing children and killing people,” said the U.N. World Food Programme’s Executive Director David Beasley who recently visited Cabo Delgado and met affected families.

“These innocent communities are now completely reliant on U.N. World Food Programme and our partners to provide them with lifesaving food and help them get back on their feet. We must not fail them,” he said.

The displacement has left at least 730,000 people in Cabo Delgado with no access to their lands and no means of earning a living. According to the latest food security data^[1] captured before the attacks in Palma town in late March 2021, nearly 228,000 people are highly food insecure. This number is projected to increase to 363,000 during the lean season beginning in October.

Many of those who fled the insurgency in Palma to neighboring districts are being hosted by locals who themselves are living hand to mouth. The added pressure on already scarce resources is impacting host communities struggling with rising food prices and loss of income due to COVID 19. According to the latest IPC data, in some districts the host communities are as food insecure as those displaced.

Children are worst affected. Recent IPC data shows 75,000 children under the age of five are suffering from acute malnutrition. The situation is projected to continue deteriorating, with more districts likely to move into the ‘Critical’ levels of malnutrition.

The oil and gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been experiencing an increasing number of attacks by non-state armed groups since 2017. Conflict has intensified over the past year with seven times more people displaced in 2021, compared to the previous year.

The U.N. World Food Programme is urgently appealing for $121 million until the end of 2021 to support 750,000 people in the northern districts of Cabo Delgado. The U.N. World Food Programme warns of the risk of having to reduce rations or even halt its food assistance to displaced people next month if no additional funds are received. With families completely reliant on humanitarian support, a break in food assistance has the potential to set the crisis spiraling out of control.

Note to the editor:

Link to high-res photos here

Link to broadcast quality footage here

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

[1] The latest Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) data covers 5 districts and the city of Pemba, out of a total of 15 districts.

PEMBA, CABO DELGADO – Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province is in the grips of a spiraling crisis as thousands of people flee their homes amidst violence, warns the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

“People have scattered in many different directions since the recent attacks in Palma, Cabo Delgado Province. Survivors are traumatized. They’ve had to flee leaving behind all their belongings and families have been separated,” said Antonella Daprile, U.N. World Food Programme Country Director in Mozambique. “We met a young mother who fled the violence with her two daughters. They walked for three days without food or water and have no idea whether the rest of their family survived.”

Recent attacks in Palma have affected 50,000 people. Many have fled Palma to Pemba on boats making their perilous journey over choppy waters. Thousands are still trapped in Palma and Quitunda, and the U.N. World Food Programme is working round the clock to secure access to those most in need. The U.N. World Food Programme has also been using boats from Pemba to reach those in remote areas, on surrounding coastal islands.

Over the last week, there has been more rain in the region. Women and children huddle under flimsy tarpaulin sheets, sheltering from the wind and rain. This part of the country is no stranger to extreme weather hazards and the cyclone season still poses a threat to communities.

Hunger persists and children are worst affected, with malnutrition worryingly on the rise. A recent survey by UNICEF and the U.N. World Food Programme found that almost 21 percent of displaced children under 5, and 18 percent of host children are underweight. At the same time, the rates of chronic malnutrition (or ‘stunting’), which has lifelong consequences, are at an alarming 50 percent among displaced children and 41 percent among children from host communities.

The U.N. World Food Programme is organizing emergency food distributions for families who have fled the violence in Palma. The U.N. World Food Programme is providing high energy biscuits and immediate response rations comprised of rice, grains, vegetable oil, canned foods such as sardines and beans, biscuits and water to distribute to people on the move. Thereafter they will be included in the U.N. World Food Programme’s regular monthly food assistance program. The U.N. World Food Programme is planning to reach 50,000 people displaced from Palma.

Conflict continues to drive hunger in northern Mozambique as more than 950,000 people now face severe hunger. The U.N. World Food Programme is in the process of scaling-up its response in northern Mozambique, with plans to assist 750,000 internally displaced people and vulnerable members of the local community across the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Niassa and Zambezia.

The U.N. World Food Programme urgently requires $82 million to respond to the crisis in northern Mozambique and support the vulnerable, largely women and children.

Link to high-res photos here

Link to broadcast quality footage here

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PEMBA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is working around the clock to assist people in need following the latest outbreak of violence in Palma town, Cabo Delgado Province, northern Mozambique. The brutal attacks have left thousands of people fleeing their homes in Palma and in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

The U.N. World Food Programme has ramped up assistance and aims to reach up to 50,000 people affected by the attacks.

Below is an operational update:

The U.N. World Food Programme is providing emergency food assistance including High Energy Biscuits and Immediate Response Rations (IRR) consisting of rice, pulses, vegetable oil, canned foods such as sardines and beans, biscuits and water for people being evacuated both by air and sea as well as for those fleeing on foot.
Some 2,000 of these ration kits are currently being deployed to support displaced people should they arrive in Pemba, Ibo Island and neighbouring districts such as Mueda and Nangade.
The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) managed by the U.N. World Food Programme is providing an air bridge to transport critical medical staff, humanitarian workers as close as possible to the operational sites, as well as provide medical evacuation of people in need.
UNHAS is exceptionally supporting the evacuation of civilians, including women and children and those critically injured. Since the onset of the crisis on March 24, a total of 18 UNHAS rotations were made, evacuating 335 people.
The U.N. World Food Programme is committed to ensuring emergency assistance reaches those who need it most and plans to continue food assistance in Palma as soon as it is safe for all humanitarian staff and partners to do so: the U.N. World Food Programme and UNICEF are on stand-by with an extra 2,000 food kits and water, sanitation and hygiene emergency kits to assist affected people in Palma.
The U.N. World Food Programme is working with partners to deploy humanitarian teams in strategic points to receive people who are fleeing clashes and is contributing to the collective effort of humanitarian organizations and civil society to provide social services to those affected.
Prior to the attacks, the U.N. World Food Programme and partners had delivered 258 metric tons (568,793 pounds) of food and nutrition assistance to meet the needs of nearly 16,000 people for a month in Palma.

Link to Images of WFP operations

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The United Nations World Food Programme – saving lives in emergencies and changing lives for millions through sustainable development. WFP works in more than 80 countries around the world, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters, and laying the foundations for a better future.

MAPUTO – The United States Government is the largest donor of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Mozambique. Through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), $38.4 million was awarded to the U.N. World Food Programme in 2020 alone. $12.6 million of this supports the humanitarian response in northern Mozambique and has been crucial to maintain U.N. World Food Proramme operations and to support vulnerable populations impacted by ongoing crises in the region.

USAID support in 2020 enabled the U.N. World Food Programme to provide life-saving food assistance to approximately 400,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) affected by the crisis in Cabo Delgado. The escalation of the insecurity in the region has displaced more than 668,000 people, seven times more than in January 2020. Thanks to contributions such as the USAID’s, U.N. World Food Programme Mozambique was able to provide food assistance to up to 400,000 IDPs in 2020.

USAID funding also allowed the U.N. World Food Programme-managed UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) to begin transporting humanitarian workers and emergency relief supplies in support of U.N. World Food Programme’s, other UN agencies’ and humanitarian partners’ work in Cabo Delgado. UNHAS services have played an essential role in opening access to some districts of Cabo Delgado and facilitating the provision of humanitarian assistance to IDPs in hard to reach areas. Since the beginning of its operations in December 2020, UNHAS has transported over 589 passengers from 16 different organizations.

“The U.S. government strongly believes in the U.N. World Food Programme’s mission and will continue to be a strong supporter of its work here in Mozambique, alongside international partners,” stated U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique, Dennis Hearne. “Supporting policies, systems and initiatives that promote resilience and provide Mozambicans more options for building sustainable livelihoods in a safe environment is also an important part of our assistance efforts, and the key to reducing the reliance on emergency assistance in the future.”

Consistent support from USAID as well as other local and international partners is fundamental for maintaining U.N. World Food Programme operations in a critical time. Cabo Delgado has one of the highest rates of chronic malnutrition in the country, over half of the children are malnourished. The rise in insecurity which is causing population displacements has also been worsening the situation.

“More than 668,000 people, mainly women and children, were forced to flee their homes without any belongings and have lost access to their livelihoods due to the insecurity in the region. Without the humanitarian community and the Mozambican government’s support, these people would not be able to meet their basic needs” said Antonella D’Aprile, U.N. World Food Programme Representative in Mozambique. “We are grateful to the United States government for supporting our lifesaving work in northern Mozambique in such challenging circumstances. which are being further compounded by the impacts of the pandemic.”

The United States Government is a long-standing partner to the U.N. World Food Programme, contributing over $150.3 million towards U.N. World Food Programme’s activities across Mozambique over the past five years.

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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) leads the U.S. Government’s international development and disaster assistance efforts through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people emerge from humanitarian crises. For more information about USAIDs work to foster sustainable development and advance human dignity visit www.usaid.gov.

It’s been two years since Cyclone Idai ravaged central Mozambique, leaving destroyed lives and struggling communities in its wake. Since then, the vulnerable country has faced ongoing conflict, contested elections, drought and more devastating weather.

Then, Cyclone Eloise made landfall in January of 2021, destroying vital infrastructure and thousands of homes, dealing another devastating blow to families still trying to put their lives together after Cyclone Idai. In the north of the country, nearly 1 million people are facing a hunger crisis driven by violence, ongoing attacks from climate shocks and skyrocketing food prices.

Here’s a look back at our story of recovery post-Idai, one year after the storm:

BEIRA/JOHANNESBURG – A year after Cyclone Idai devastated much of central Mozambique, limited funding for essential reconstruction is preventing many of the hardest-hit people from getting back on their feet, according to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

In the weeks after the strongest storm to ever hit the country, the U.N. World Food Programme’s emergency assistance kick-started the recovery of 1.8 million people. But many others, who are still struggling today, face a bleak and uncertain future.

Last month, funding shortfalls forced the U.N. World Food Programme to halve food rations for 525,000 people working on post-Idai recovery projects in the province of Sofala, the most damaged by the cyclone. This month, that vital support will be halted completely unless the U.N. World Food Programme receives funds soon.

“For people who had their lives turned upside down, our projects – community farms, road and bridge repair, the rebuilding of schools – are a source of hope,” said Lola Castro, the U.N. World Food Programme’s Regional Director for Southern Africa. “This essential work must continue if we want to see real and lasting recovery,” Castro added.

The upcoming April-May harvest is expected to be relatively good in the region. However, few of the 250,000 families whose homes were damaged by the cyclone have been able to return to their villages, let alone rebuild.

The U.N. World Food Programme needs $91 million to be able to fully implement rehabilitation projects for Idai victims this year.

Many are subsistence farmers whose crops were wiped out last year and who were unable to replant in time for this year. Most are enduring “crisis” or “emergency” levels of food insecurity, meaning they do not eat enough, borrow what they can from relatives or friends, forage for less-than-nourishing wild foods, and continue to need outside help to survive.

Mozambique has one of the highest rates of chronic malnutrition in the world – afflicting 43 percent of children under five – while acute malnutrition is on the rise among Idai-affected communities. A rare outbreak of Pellagra, a disease triggered by Vitamin B3 deficiency, has sickened almost 4,000 people in Sofala, with the numbers increasing rapidly.

Given the country’s heavy dependence on rain-fed, small-scale farming and its vulnerability to climate change – as underscored by Cyclone Kenneth causing widespread devastation just six weeks after Idai – significantly more investment is needed in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

“Boosting Mozambicans’ ability to withstand the impacts of increasingly severe drought and flooding was the core of our work before the cyclones struck,” said Castro. “It’s what we must resume now, and, with partners, step up in the coming years.”

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The U.N. World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies, building prosperity and supporting a sustainable future for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org): Steve Taravella, WFP/Washington, Tel. +1 202 653 1149

This is a summary of what was said by WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

GENEVA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is currently conducting needs assessments with the Government of Mozambique and partners. In order to have a full picture of the impact of the devastating cyclone and the extent of the damage, the U.N. World Food Programme is supporting both on ground and aerial assessments undertaken with drones.

While the full extent of needs will be revealed once ongoing assessments have been concluded, early indications are that the storm has further aggravated the precarious food security situation in Sofala province. People need food assistance now to cope and will need support to re-establish their livelihoods going forward.

The tropical cyclone comes at a very difficult time in Mozambique. January to March is the peak lean season – when people struggle the most to find food. Latest statistics from the IPC Acute Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Analysis project that over 2.9 million people are facing high levels of food insecurity in rural and urban areas.

Ahead of the storm, the U.N. World Food Programme mobilized emergency stocks to support 100,000 people as part of its immediate response. A total of 640 metric tons (MT) of food is available in a U.N. World Food Programme central warehouse in Beira city and in the southern hub in Maputo, which can be trucked to affected areas across Sofala province. These resources are for the U.N. World Food Programme’s ongoing lean season response but can be utilized to provide life-saving assistance to people hard hit by Tropical Cyclone Eloise. However, more resources will be urgently needed to ensure we can mount an adequate response in a timely manner.

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The U.N. World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

For more information, contact:

Tomson Phiri, WFP/Geneva, Tomson.Phiri@wfp.org, Mob. +41 79 842 8057

Johannesburg – Escalating conflict and a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado has left communities completely reliant on humanitarian assistance. According to the Government, attacks by non-state groups have forced more than 565,000 people to flee their homes and villages, abandoning their crops and livelihoods.

Last December, the United Nations Regional Directors for Eastern and Southern Africa visited Mozambique to assess the plight and needs of displaced populations as well as of host communities in northern Cabo Delgado province, and met government officials in Maputo.

They expressed their deep concerns about the unfolding humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado where violence has exposed people to human rights violations and left people with very limited access to food and livelihoods. The growing insecurity and poor infrastructure have meant that reaching out to people in need has become harder and coupled with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis has become even more complex.

“We need to urgently increase our presence in Cabo Delgado in order to help those in need, especially women and children,” said Lola Castro, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director for southern Africa.

The joint mission with Regional Directors of FAO, IFAD, IOM, UNFPA, UNHCR and WFP, as well as by the UNDP Resilience Hub Manager and members of the UN Country Team, allowed participants to witness firsthand the impact of continuing violence in Cabo Delgado and to show support for affected communities and the Mozambican people.

They heard extremely moving accounts from displaced men, women and children in the city of Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado, and in the districts of Ancuabe and Chiúre, whose lives have been upended by conflict and insecurity. They also met communities accommodating the displaced, visited planned resettlement areas and held discussions with the provincial governor and Secretary of State, as well as with religious leaders and representatives of civic organizations.

The crisis in the north of the country is a complex security, human rights, humanitarian and development emergency, underscoring the imperative of continuing to provide life-saving assistance while collectively supporting government-led long-term resilience building.

While acknowledging that much has been done to help victims of the crisis, the Regional Directors stressed that with displacement increasing daily, the lack of adequate food, water, sanitation, shelter, health, protection and education was exacerbating an already dire situation – one set to be further compounded by the imminent rainy season in a country particularly prone to climate extremes, as cyclones Idai and Kenneth devastatingly illustrated in 2019. Most recently, tropical storm Chalane, which hit the same populations last December, as cyclone Idai did less than two years ago, was a harsh reminder of the climate threat Mozambicans are facing and of the urgency to massively scale up investments in recovery and resilience.

With COVID-19 keeping most schools closed, the importance of robust investment in education to build Mozambique’s social and human capital is a growing concern.

There is an urgent need to expand protection, health, food and nutrition programs for vulnerable children and women, and vaccination and immunization interventions and psychosocial counseling, and of working to enable displaced farming and fishing families re-establish sustainable livelihoods.

The Regional Directors urged support for the adequate resettlement of uprooted families straining the already limited resources of impoverished host communities and slowing government efforts to effectively register and assist the displaced.

They noted that urgent investments in development and resilience-building are required to not only promote human rights and social justice, but also to limit the impact of current crises and help prevent future ones.

To curb violent extremism, they called for development initiatives to be transnational in approach and to prioritize the economic empowerment and social and political inclusion of women and young people.

They urged the Government of Mozambique and the international community to step up efforts to end all forms of violence in the country, including gender-based violence and child marriage, and to invest more in women and girls as agents of progress and change.

The Regional Directors expressed gratitude to the government for its role in helping to meet the humanitarian needs of people in the north of the country and re-affirmed the commitment of the United Nations to upholding human rights and promoting peace and sustainable development for all Mozambicans.

Link to the recording of the virtual media briefing held on 20 January 2020 may be accessed here.

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For more information, contact:

Deborah Nguyen, WFP/Johannesburg, deborah.nguyen@wfp.org, Mob. +27 82 6790915
Hélène Caux, UNHCR /Pretoria, caux@unhcr.org, +27 82 376 5190
Francesca Fontanini, UNHCR/Maputo, fontanin@unhcr.org, +84 312 0930
David Paqui IFAD dpaqui@ifad.org
Daisy Leoncio, UNFPA, leoncio@unfpa.org
Steven Lazaro, FAO, steven.lazaro@fao.org

MAPUTO – The United Nations World Food Programme is extremely concerned about the escalating conflict and deteriorating food security situation in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, where over 300,000 people have fled their homes and villages, abandoning their crops and leaving them completely reliant on humanitarian assistance.

“We are deeply concerned about the unfolding humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado where conflict and violence have left people without access to food and livelihoods,” said Antonella D’Aprile, U.N. World Food Programme Representative for Mozambique. “The growing insecurity and poor infrastructure have meant that reaching out to people in need has become harder and now with COVID-19 the crisis becomes even more complex.”

Growing violence and insecurity have increased the threat of hunger in the northern province of Cabo Delgado as communities have lost access to food and income sources. Latest findings from famine early warning system FEWSNET indicate that communities will continue to face ‘crisis’ levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3) into early 2021. The situation is even more worrisome given that Cabo Delgado has the second highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the country with more than half of children under 5 chronically malnourished. Any additional shocks could rapidly worsen the situation, especially for women and children.

The U.N. World Food Programme urgently requires $4.7 million per month to assist those internally displaced in northern Mozambique. Without additional funding the U.N. World Food Programme will be forced to reduce food rations as early as December.

Nearly a thousand refugees have crossed into neighboring Tanzania, deepening concerns among the international community about the regionalization of the conflict. With Cabo Delgado currently recording the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in Mozambique, population displacements have the potential to accelerate the spread of the virus.

Despite significant operational challenges, the U.N. World Food Programme, in collaboration with the Government, plans to reach 310,000 people each month in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, and Niassa with food, vouchers and nutrition support.

Since 2017, Cabo Delgado has been experiencing attacks by Non-State Armed Groups that have gradually displaced communities who are now seeking refuge in other provinces, such as Nampula and Niassa. These attacks have led to the loss of lives and have severely damaged infrastructure – that were already severely affected by cyclone Kenneth in 2019 – leading to disruptions in the access to those most in need.

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For photos click here

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Contact:

Anahita Boboeva, WFP/Maputo, +258 85 711 0322
Deborah Nguyen, WFP/Johannesburg, +27 082 679 0915
Thomson Phiri, WFP/Geneva, +41 79 842 80 57

Note to the editor:

HAITI IN CRISIS

HAITI IN CRISIS