The World Bank is backing a joint FAO-Mozambique agricultural recovery plan that aims to restore livelihoods in the country’s central provinces in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai
The effort aims to reach more than 150,000 farming and pastoral households in the provinces of Manica, Sofala, Tete and Zambézia, which suffered some of the heaviest fallout after what was the most intense cyclone to ever hit southern Africa.
“The beneficiaries are among Mozambique's most vulnerable households, and desperately need to get back to their farms and start producing their own food again,” said Olman Serrano country representative of FAO.
A first phase of the recovery plan is already underway through distributions of seeds and tools across the hardest-hit regions ahead of the second (winter) season, which is starting now.
The World Bank funding is set to support a second phase, focused on ensuring a successful start to September's 2019/2020 main agricultural season. An estimated 110,000 farming households will receive seed and tool packages, while another 40,000 livestock-reliant families will benefit from a large-scale vaccination campaign that will provide critical healthcare to 112,000 cattle and more than one million small ruminants.
Under phase one of the FAO- Mozambique response, around 18,000 seed and tool packages have already been distributed to cyclone-affected farmers, due to funding from the governments of Austria and Belgium.
Of the US$19mn that FAO has appealed for to restore flooded lands and shattered infrastructure, around US$4.5mn is still unfunded.
“Almost two months after Idai and with Cyclone Kenneth further impacting rural livelihoods in the north, this gap urgently needs to be filled. If Mozambique's farmers are not able to take advantage of the upcoming secondary and primary growing seasons, then we will have a long-term food security crisis on our hands,” Serrano said.
