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From MISNAOct. 6, 2010
Mozambique: Struggle against Hunger
The government has approved a ten-year plan to reduce
malnutrition, which affects some 44% of the population according to the latest
data. The plan "concerns the improvement of the nutritional state of children
who are less than five years old as well as maternal health and nutrition", said
the minister of justice Alberto Nkutumula, who also noted the goal of reducing
the under-nourished strata of the population to 20%.
The government says the biggest causes of malnutrition are the scarce water
resources, especially for potable water, and the resulting poor
hygienic–sanitary problems this creates including disease and insufficient food
quantities. Moreover, a prolonged drought has damaged the January and March
harvests, which were very poor, especially as far as basic products like rice,
wheat and beans are concerned. Farmers and authorities are now hoping that the
humid season that begins in November will yield some relief.
These problems have been aggravated by a rise in the price of bread and water,
which prompted food riots last September costing 14 lives in Maputo and the
southern city of Matola. To confront the problems of underdevelopment and rising
prices, 250 MP’s have gathered in the town of Namaacha to devise a plan to
better manage foreign aid. In addition, the UN special representative for the
right to nutrition, Olivier de Schutter, described the following paradox to the
Congolese daily 'Le Potentiel': "While Maputo imports more than 300,000 tons of
wheat, heavily dependent on world prices, foreign investors are able to exploit
local territory without paying either taxes or import duties".
