€18.2M from UN

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has announced a $20 million (€18.2 million) plan for food security because of the risks of Covid-19 in Mozambique. “The plan is aligned with the FAO’s programming framework in Mozambique and covers the period from May 2020 to April 2021, with a total budget of $20 million,” it said in a report published on Tuesday. Covid-19 is already causing significant negative effects on the food supply network and FAO is deeply concerned about the possible impact of the virus on food security and livelihoods, particularly in highly vulnerable contexts, where people are already experiencing food crises, as in Mozambique, it said. The period – May 2020 to April 2021 – will allow for immediate support in the cold season that has started, in parallel interventions in crops and others in preparation for the main agricultural season, the organisation said. The geographical impact of the interventions will be analysed and adjusted as the situation develops and new data becomes available. The main objectives of the UN agency are to provide data support for government decisions, ensure that there is food to distribute, that the supply chain continues to function and that its stakeholders are free from infection by the new coronavirus.

“FAO in Mozambique has assessed potential impacts of the virus in the local context and developed a plan to maintain critical assistance where there are already high levels of need, in addition to addressing the new shortages emerging from the effects of Covid-19,” it said. The organisation reiterated that the potential for the pandemic to become a complex humanitarian tragedy is clear from the aggravated effects of the health crisis on highly vulnerable populations. “In Mozambique, Covid-19 will affect the same communities that have barely recovered from recent major shocks such as cyclones, droughts, floods and conflicts, which have severely affected their food security and livelihoods,” it added. Mozambique has 213 cases of infection by the new coronavirus, one death and 71 people have recovered. The government is expected to announce the next steps this week after the state of emergency was decreed on 1 April and extended until 30 May – with the Constitution allowing two more extensions. The country has several restrictions: closed spaces for entertainment and leisure, the prohibition of all types of events and crowds, recommending the population to stay at home if they have no work or other essential reasons to treat. 

 

During the same period, there are restrictions on public transport, the wearing of masks on public roads is compulsory, schools are closed and the issuing of visas to enter the country is suspended. In Africa, there are 3,478 confirmed deaths in more than 116,000 infected in 54 countries, according to the most recent statistics on the pandemic in that continent. Worldwide, according to an assessment by the AFP news agency, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused more than 346,000 deaths and infected more than 5.5 million people in 196 countries and territories.