Area:
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784 000 sq.km
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Climate:
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Tropical wet-dry; coast is semi-arid
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Population:
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19.57 million (1999 estimate); G.N.P. per caput: US$ 210 (1998)
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Specific characteristics of the country:
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Low-income food-deficit country; exposed to tropical storms and cyclones
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Logistics:
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Dilapidated rail and road transport fleet; lack of fuel and spares; poor roads; substantial
deliveries by coastal vessels
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Major foodcrops:
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Roots, tubers, maize
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Marketing year:
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April/March; Lean season: February-April
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Share of cereals in total calorie intake:
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53 percent
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Rains until mid-March hampered relief operations but the levels of the rivers are progressively decreasing. Despite this, by 20 March, the level of Limpopo River was expected to rise following rains in South Africa, threatening the already affected village of Chowke with further floods. In general, access to 350 000 persons still in displaced camps has improved substantially. Food aid and agricultural support is now needed for the flood-affected people returning to their fields. Preliminary estimates indicated that 1.9 million have been affected by the disaster, and that some 126 000 hectares in the southern and central provinces of Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane, Manica and Sofala have been lost to the floods. Substantial livestock losses are also reported. In these traditionally food-deficit provinces, the sharp reduction in cereal production in 2000 will be compounded by loss of farmers' food and seed stocks in household granaries. However, a full assessment of the damage is not yet possible.
The major cereal growing areas of the north have not been affected by floods, and have benefited from good rains in the first two dekads of March. However, overall prospects for the harvest from April have deteriorated with the crop losses in the South. Southern provinces ravaged by floods account for some 13 percent of the total cereal production, and those affected in the central region for an additional 20 percent. Therefore, about one third of national cereal production has been affected by losses and yield reductions. An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission will be fielded in mid-April to review the outcome of 2000 foodcrops and estimate the cereal import and food aid needs for the new marketing year 2000/01 (April/March). International assistance will also be needed for the reconstruction of housing and infrastructure, severely damaged by the floods.
| Wheat | Rice | Coarse grains | Total | |
| Normal Production | - | 50 | 458 | 508 |
| Normal Imports | 102 | 60 | 244 | 406 |
| of which: Structural food aid | 102 | 52 | 140 | 294 |
| 1999/2000 Domestic Availability | 5 | 124 | 1 628 | 1 757 |
| 1999 Production (rice in paddy terms) | - | 186 | 1 568 | 1 754 |
| 1999 Production (rice in milled terms) | - | 124 | 1 568 | 1 692 |
| Possible stock drawdown | 5 | - | 60 | 65 |
| 1999/2000 Utilization | 180 | 274 | 1 628 | 2 082 |
| Food Use | 173 | 261 | 1 306 | 1 740 |
| of which: local purchase requirement | - | - | 2 | 2 |
| Non-food use | 7 | 13 | 172 | 192 |
| Exports or Re-exports | - | - | 150 | 150 |
| Possible stock build up | - | - | - | - |
| 1999/2000 Import Requirement | 175 | 150 | - | 325 |
| Anticipated commercial imports | 150 | 130 | - | 280 |
| Food aid needs | 25 | 20 | - | 45 |
| Current Aid Position | ||||
| Food aid pledges | 127 | 9 | 5 | 141 |
| of which: Delivered | 51 | 4 | 5 | 60 |
| Donor-financed purchases | - | - | 102 | 102 |
| of which: for local use | - | - | 2 | 2 |
| for export | - | - | 100 | 100 |
| Estimated Per Caput Consumption (kg/year) | 9 | 13 | 67 | 89 |
| Indexes | ||||
| 1999 production as % of normal: | 345 | |||
| 1999/2000 import requirement as % of normal: | 80 | |||
| 1999/2000 food aid requirement as % of normal: | 15 |
