Mozambique:2 million affected by drought

Food supplies are running out in Mozambique. 2 million people are at risk.

The Mozambican Minister of Foreign Affairs, Leonardo Simao, has declared that the country’s drought puts two million people at risk of starvation. He added that the country’s food reserves are sufficient only to last until the end of the month of April.

The situation is a cyclical flood/drought syndrome, affecting some 40 regions of the country. Torrential rains wipe out crops and are followed by prolonged periods without precipitation, baking the land into barren dust-bowls. The result is an influx of people to the cities, where living conditions deteriorate.

An appeal to the international community is being studied, but will not be launched officially until an exhaustive study of the situation has been made next weekend.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru