EU Supports WFP With Food Assistance To Displaced People In Mozambique

The European Union through the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), is supporting the World Food Programme’s response in Northern Mozambique, to provide food to 360,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) for four months. 

Under this arrangement, families will either receive a food portion consisting of rice, pulses, and oil, covering 80 per cent of their daily kilocalorie requirements.

For those who live in places where supplies are available in retailers and the security situation is adequate, a voucher of MZN 3,600 (around EUR 47.00) would be distributed to each family. Vouchers can be redeemed at selected retail shops to purchase food and other essential items, such as soap, sanitary supplies, detergents, toothpaste, and water sanitizers. Cash-based transfers (CBT) provide immediate relief for struggling families while positively impacting the local economy and building economic resilience.

Northern Mozambique’s growing displacement crisis since last May, and the violence in Cabo Delgado province, have displaced over 732,000 people, seven times more than the same period last year.

Antonella D’Aprile, the WFP’s Representative in Mozambique, disclosed that the humanitarian situation in Northern Mozambique has pushed people to nothing.

“Those who managed to survive the attacks had to leave everything behind, including their livelihoods,” D’Aprile said, while also appreciating the EU for stepping forward to ensure IDPs receive urgent food assistance.

“It is concerning that as the fragile security situation in Mozambique’s Northern Province of Cabo Delgado continues to deteriorate, thousands of families are being displaced and require urgent humanitarian assistance,” said Alexandre Castellano, the Head of the European Union’s Humanitarian Aid office for Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean region.

“At the EU, we are committed to working with partners, like the WFP, to bring life-saving assistance to the vulnerable populations, most of whom have lost their main sources of livelihood.” 

The EU funds will be used for WFP’s nutrition interventions in Northern Mozambique. WFP will support over 32,200 children under five years old, as well as pregnant and nursing mothers through the treatment of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) as part of the National Nutrition Rehabilitation Programme (PRN) in Cabo Delgado, Nampula, and Niassa provinces. 

However, the EU is supporting 8,000 children under five years old for three months as a part of the WFP’s nutrition assistance which aims to prevent MAM among the displaced population.

Given the fragile security situation, WFP will also work to strengthen local capacity in terms of protection. With the EUR 6.7 million allocation to the WFP, DG ECHO is currently funding four WFP actions in Mozambique with a total amount of EUR 12.3 million.

The funding requirement needed until Dec. 2021 for the response in northern Mozambique stands at US$121 million. Without additional support, WFP’s operations will be leading to the reduction or even suspension of food distribution to those in need as early as August 2021.