Conflict in Mozambique - The sound of violence has faded, but its effects are just beginning

A wife and mother of four, Inocencia was forced to flee her home in Memba district last November when armed groups linked to the Cabo Delgado insurgency attacked the area. “We first heard about the attacks on 14 November,” she says and adds that “When they came closer the second time, we saw smoke from the houses they had burnt. That is when we ran.”

The family escaped to Alua in neighbouring Erati District, carrying only what they could. For 21 days, they slept outside with no shelter and little food. “We survived on the cassava flour we had taken with us. When it was finished, there was nothing left to eat,” Inocencia explains.

With no food or shelter, they made the difficult choice to return home, even though the danger had not fully passed. Back in Memba, safety is fragile and hunger is now the greatest threat.

“Fear grips us. We live in constant fear,” she says. That fear has kept her family away from their fields, just when planting and harvesting are most needed. “We cannot even go to the farm. And that brings another fear: hunger in the near future. As soon as these beans and cassava finish, we will be in big problem,” Inocência explains.

Like many families, Inocencia’s livelihood has been shattered. Crops lie abandoned, food stocks are gone, and coping options are exhausted. With markets disrupted and reserves consumed during displacement, families face an urgent food crisis.

For Inocencia and her children, hunger now looms as large as the violence that drove them away. Without immediate support to restore food and livelihoods, families returning to Memba risk empty fields and stores, and an uncertain future.