The Municipality Administrator of Covalima, Mr. Afonso Nogueira, oversaw FAO’s emergency food distribution for a remote community in Mape Suco on May 27, 2020. Emergency assistance was provided to 60 households in food distress as part of the European Union funded ‘Pro-Resilience II’ project.

Mape Suco community access to food has been particularly affected with the implementation of the necessary Covid-19 sanitary measures. Afonsu Nogueira said that ‘this emergency food assistance is lifesaving for Mape community until the Government cash transfer program is implemented. We thank FAO Representative and the European Union for their solidarity’.

The household ration distributed is based on 1,800 kcal/person/day and covers two months staple food needs. It is composed of cereals (75 kg of maize & 30kg of rice), beans (12kg) and palm oil (10lt).  To make a positive impact on the local economy, maize and beans were locally procured from farmers in Covalima & Maubisse respectively, and rice and oil, while originally imported, were procured from shops in Covalima.

The severe food insecurity of Mape community was first identified through the Chefe de Suco’s opinion assessment on Covid-19 impact on food and agriculture in April 2020 conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries with FAO support. A subsequent visit of the remote communities conducted on May 16-17 confirmed the situation.

Another community in Usecai Suco in Covalima finds itself in similar situation as the impact of Covid-19 sanitary measures on food security are aggravated by the loss of the entire maize crops to Fall Army Worm, a new and dangerous pest identified for the first time in Timor-Leste in February 2020.