Response to El Nino Impact: More than 4,000 Families Benefit from Seed Distribution in Mozambique

More than 4201 families benefited from seeds distribution in Mozambique´s central Tete province to help them minimise the impact of the El Nino phenomenon that dragged more than 2.2 million people to acute food insecurity and 510 000 people in urgent need of food assistance in the country.

To minimise the impact, donors have partially responded to World Vision´s Multi-Country El Nino Response and Mozambique is already assisting 4,201 families with maize and bean seeds, revitalising hope and restoring one of the most basic human rights to “Right to food”.

So far, assisted families are from the district of Mutarara where the El Nino phenomenon has emptied the pantries of around 10,000 families that until recently are surviving on seasonal and bitter fruits, which are also going scarce.

‘We received seeds and we really liked it because, without the fields, we have no life. We have organised the fields, but we didn't have any seeds,’ Horacio Limpo, one of the residents of the Charre administrative post, shared enthusiastically.

The seeds are delivered when the authorities at the National Meteorological Institute are predicting normal and above-normal rainfall, thus boosting the chances of a fruitful season in terms of agricultural production.

World Vision Mozambique is implementing development programs in Mutarara, where it witnessed families separate as others relocated to other regions of the country in search of food products and other sources of income to cope with the impacts of El Niño phenomenon.

The El Nino phenomenon has equally exacerbated the situation of groups of women, children, older people, and people with disabilities, exposing them to additional stress, as confirmed by local government authorities.

World Vision Response Plan

For World Vision Mozambique, the current priority sectors for the response include Food Security, Livelihood, Sanitation and Hygiene, Protection, Education, Health, and Nutrition. The organization continues to engaging donors, governments, and partners to mobilise resources and strengthen coordination and response mechanisms.

World Vision Mozambique response plan requires US$5 million, as it targets more than 90,000 affected people in the country as part of its initial response.