Mozambique: Harvest Lost in Southern Mozambique
The 2016 harvest in southern Mozambique is regarded as a near total write-off, thanks to the severe drought hitting southern Africa, caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon.
Summarising the situation to reporters on Tuesday, after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), the government spokesperson, Deputy Health Minister Mouzinho Saide, said that almost 518,000 hectares of crops (mostly maize, rice and pulses) are considered lost.
As for livestock, the drought has caused the death of 4,372 head of cattle. 3,856 of these animals died in the southern provinces.
But the amount of crops lost is only 11 per cent of the total planted in the country. In northern Mozambique, and in much of the central part of the country, there have been rains, and a good harvest is still possible, Saide said.
CIF Action