WFP welcomes Japanese contribution for people affected by cyclone in Mozambique

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed a contribution of US$ 6.9 million from the Government of Japan for the provision of food assistance to the cyclone- and flood-affected people in Mozambique.

The devastation caused by Tropical Cyclone Idai, which made landfall north of Beira, Sofala province, on 14 March, left 1.85 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Thanks to these funds, WFP, working in close collaboration with the Government of Mozambique and other humanitarian partners, should be able to assist 350,000 disaster-affected people in the provinces of Tete, Sofala, Zambezia and Manica.

“The cyclone and flooding have graphically underscored just how vulnerable Mozambicans are to climate shocks”, said WFP Mozambique Country Director Karin Manente. “Already high malnutrition rates in affected areas risk being aggravated by cholera and malaria.” This timely contribution from Japan will help vulnerable communities in need of sustained support get back on their feet. In the case of many subsistence farmers, that will take until the next main harvest in mid-2020.”

More than 700,000 hectares of crops – primarily maize – were washed away before the main April–May harvest. Other key sources of income, such as livestock and fisheries, were also badly affected.

The contribution will enable WFP to provide food assistance to some 267,000 people and vouchers for 80,000 people which can be used in shops to acquire rations of rice or maize meal, dried beans or peas and fortified vegetable oil.

The Government of Japan has been funding food assistance for developing countries since 1968 and is a long-standing partner of WFP in Mozambique.

Original source: WFP
Published on 09 May 2019