Mozambique: Over 244,000 hectares of crops damaged by heavy rains

Over 244,000 hectares of various crops have been plagued by heavy rains, flooding, storms, and drought in the Mozambican 2021-2022 agricultural campaign. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, crop losses will jeopardise the livelihoods of more than 189,000 small producers. Maize, beans, and groundnuts were the main crops harmed by the excessive rain, which hit 4.6 per cent of the areas where the farmers had planted their seeds in 95 districts of the southern provinces of Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane, the central provinces of Manica, Tete, Sofala and Zambezia, and the northern province of Nampula. According to Hiten Jantilal of the National Directorate of Agriculture, quoted in the Maputo daily "Noticias" on 19 May, the impact of natural phenomena has shown the need to improve farmers' access to climate information to help them make decisions and manage their activities. "There is a need to improve the early warning mechanism for small producers ...