Restoring Agricultural Production for Drought-Affected Households in Mozambique - TCP/MOZ/3603

Abstract

Mozambique has suffered from the effects of the El Niño-induced drought of 2016, which has also affected the whole of Southern Africa. The drought significantly impacted upon the agricultural sector, with the central and southern provinces of the country hit particularly hard. An assessment of the situation in February 2016 in Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Sofala and Tete provinces found that although more than 45 percent of households sowed least three times in the agricultural season, losses among the main food crops (maize, sorghum, groundnut and cowpea) were very high. With 80 percent of farmers losing their crops as a result of the drought – in many cases resulting in livestock deaths – the project was implemented in response to the concerns of the Government of Mozambique over the lack of seeds that might enable affected families to restore their production capacity and reduce their dependence on food aid.