Food Aid Alleviates Families Affected by Flooding in Central Mozambique

By Benjamim Capito - Communication Coordinator

Families displaced by recent floods in Zambézia province, central Mozambique, received relief aid as part of World Vision's early response mechanism.

Emergency assistance consists of food rations and hygiene products allocated to three accommodation centers in Maganja da Costa district. Combined, the centers host 1114 families, most of whom are composed of women and children.

Some of them arrived at the center after the local committees for Disaster and Risk Reduction issued an early warning, while others were forced to leave as the flooding worsened. 

Such is the case with Madalena and her three grandchildren, including a newborn baby. Newborn Heldeque has known his grandmother's comforting arms more than anyone else over the past six months after his birth. The baby’s mother passed away days after his mother gave birth.

“When I left home, I could only take a blanket and the clothes on my body,” said Madalena, reviving the day when they surrendered to the wrath of Mother Nature. With not enough clothes or diapers for the newborn, the grandmother wraps the boy in a Capulana, a traditional Mozambican fabric.

Heldeque’s breastfeeding was cut abruptly with the passing of his mother, leaving him depleted of an important source of nutrients, essential to immunization and healthy growth. To compensate, Madalena prepares corn porridge with sugar dissolved in water to feed him in a baby bottle. 

Food rations are scarce in the center and are provided weekly and prepared in community pots. The Families affected by the floods also lost their crops, which increases food insecurity.

“My plantation rice and sweet potatoes were destroyed in the floods, and I don’t know where we're going to get food once we return home”, she expressed in concern.

The National Institute of Risk Management and Reduction of Disasters (INGD) estimates that over 3,600 hectares of agricultural land are lost, affecting 7,304 farmers.

In Maganja da Costa, the aid was extensive to areas not covered by the World Vision Sponsorship Program.

“Due to the magnitude of the floods, we are ensuring that assistance is inclusive to areas where we don’t have registered children from our programs,” explained Glória Moio, Area Program Manager.

In the face of growing demands for humanitarian assistance, World Vision continues to monitor events on the ground while mobilizing additional resources to meet the needs of vulnerable households and support longer-term recovery.