• by IPS Correspondents (maputo)
• Thursday, December 29, 1994
• Inter Press Service

MAPUTO, Dic 29 (IPS) - MOZAMBIQUE HAS BEEN BRACING ITSELF FOR ANOTHER DROUGHT AS LATE AND INADEQUATE RAINS PROMISE POOR HARVESTS THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN SUB-REGION.

RECENT PRESS REPORTS INDICATE DEATHS HAVE OCCURRED FROM HUNGER AND THIRST IN THE CENTRAL PROVINCE OF MANICA, WHERE CROPS HAVE FAILED, AND INHAMABANE IN THE SOUTH.

ACCORDING TO MOZAMBIQUE'S DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR THE PREVENTION AND COMBAT OF NATURAL DISASTERS (DPCCN) SILVANO LANGA, MEDICAL TEAMS HAD BEEN DISPATCHED TO AFFECTED AREAS.

BUT WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME'S (WFP) ACTING DIRECTOR IN MAPUTO PATRICK BUCKLEY NOTES THAT "DUE TO THE DIFFICULTY OF DATA COLLECTION THERE IS NO AGENCY YET THAT HAS A COMPLETE PICTURE OF THE SITUATION AND NO PROOF THESE DEATHS RESULTED FROM HUNGER."

BUCKLEY ADMITS THAT AS THE COUNTRY IS NOW PASSING THROUGH THE "HUNGRY SEASON", THERE IS AN INCREASE IN MALNUTRITION WITH MANY OF 16 MILLION MOZAMBICANS RECEIVING LESS THAN THE 2,200 CALORIES WHICH THE U.N. FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION (FAO) SAYS ARE THE AVERAGE DAILY REQUIREMENT PER PERSON.

"MANY OF THOSE REPORTED DEAD ARE EITHER VERY YOUNG OR VERY OLD AND THEY WOULD SUCCUMB MOST EASILY TO ILLNESSES SUCH AS DYSENTRY IF THEY WERE MALNOURISHED," BUCKLEY TOLD IPS.

HE SAYS HUNGER MAY HAVE DRIVEN SOME PEOPLE TO EAT UNUSUAL SUBSTANCES SUCH AS SEEDS TREATED WITH TOXIC CHEMICALS AND ROOTS INADEQUATELY PREPARED DUE TO THE GROWING SHORTAGE OF POTABLE WATER, ESPECIALLY IN GAZA AND INHAMBANE.

WFP EMERGENCY OFFICER HERVE CHEUZEVILLE, WHO RECENTLY TOURED ARID PARTS OF MOZAMBIQUE, SAW "MERCHANTS CYCLING 40 OR 50 KM FROM COASTAL AREAS WITH DRUMS OF WATER FOR SALE".

ACCORDING TO A REPORT FROM THE REGIONAL EARLY WARNING UNIT (EWU) OF THE HARARE-BASED SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY (SADC), RAINS WERE GENERALLY SATISFACTORY IN ANGOLA AND TANZANIA, BUT LIGHT AND PATCHY IN OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION.

THE REPORT WAS ISSUED BEFORE RAINS THAT FELL THIS WEEK IN MANY PARTS OF ZIMBABWE.

THIS MEANS HARVESTS OF THE STAPLE MAIZE WILL PROBABLY BE BELOW NORMAL IN COUNTRIES SUCH AS BOTSWANA, MALAWI, MOZAMBIQUE AND ZAMBIA, REPORTS THE SADC/EWU'S SPECIAL MID-DECEMBER 'AGROMET UPDATE'.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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