Mozambican gov't declares red alert as 1.5 mln facing food insecurity

The government of Mozambique declared on Tuesday an institutional red alert as 1.5 million people across the country are being seriously affected by lack of food due to droughts.

"Due to this, the government decided to declare red alert for a period of 90 days with the following purposes: intensification of assistance for the affected people and the expansion of the areas of intervention by the government and cooperation partners," said government spokesperson, Mouzinho Saide.

Saide said the government will be releasing funds in order to assist people affected by food insecurity.

The southern African country is seriously affected by the El Nino phenomenon this year, which resulted in the floods in the north and droughts in the south and central parts of the nation.

The National Disasters Management Institute (INGC) has estimated that it needs 13 million U.S. dollars a month to aid victims of the drought in the southern and central provinces.

INGC said that about 1.5 million people are currently in a situation of food insecurity, of whom 315,000 are currently receiving food aid.

In terms of the number of people affected, the provinces worst hit by the drought are Tete and Sofala in the center of the country and Gaza in the south.

According to the latest figures from the INGC, the number of those affected by the floods in northern provinces is revised downwards to 10,000, and the situation in the north was now under control. Enditem