Severe drought in Mozambique may affect agricultural production

22-Jul-2024 12:37 PM

Maputo. Severe drought in many parts of Mozambique, the largest exporter of pigeon pea situated in the African continent, has created the threat of starvation for more than 1.25 lakh people and is also adversely affecting agricultural crops.

The effect of drought is more severe in the central part of the country where crops have been badly damaged due to drought in a district of Sofala province.

There is a crisis of Euro due to the effect of El Nino weather cycle. In Kaia district of Sofala province, paddy, maize, pulses, beans and sesame crops in thousands of hectares of area have been destroyed due to this drought and people there are becoming dependent on grains.

During the current year, it was estimated that about 8 lakh tons of agricultural commodities would be produced in this district, but now this production is likely to shrink to around 2 lakh tons.

The district administration has appealed to the farmers to focus more on farming in the lower areas because the soil of the fields there is not completely dry yet and there is some moisture present in it.

Apart from this, the producers have also been urged to be careful in selling their agricultural products so that they do not have to face starvation. 

The National Meteorological Institute of Mozambique has said that the activity of El Nino can lead to lack of rain and its signs are already visible in some parts of the country.

In September last year, the President of Mozambique had asked the people of the country and various organizations and institutions to start necessary preparations to avoid the upcoming outbreak and effect of the El Nino weather cycle.

Under this, warning was given of much more rain than normal in some parts of the country and severe drought in other areas.