1.5 mln people need assistance due to ongoing drought in Mozambiaque: UN

An ongoing drought aggravated by the El Nino phenomenon in central and southern Mozambique has left 1.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday.

According to the OCHA, the government of Mozambique has declared a red alert due to the drought and has so far provided emergency food assistance to some 315,000 affected people, with the support of the UN.

"The drought is affecting more than 320,000 farmers and although there was significant rainfall in March, it is considered too late to recover the affected crops which were planted in January and have essentially dried out," an OCHA spokesperson said Friday during a press briefing here.

The spokesperson added that one result of the drought was an increase of 100 percent on the price of staple food in local markets.

"The government has announced that it needs at least 180 million U.S. dollars to ensure assistance to the affected people over the next 12 months," the spokesperson said.

Located in Southeast Africa and with a total population of around 24 million, Mozambique is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped countries in the world. Endit