The district of Guro, located in Manica province, is facing an agricultural crisis due to the El Niño phenomenon, which has already destroyed around 18,000 hectares of crops in the current 2023/24 agricultural campaign. The situation was revealed by the Mozambican Information Agency, warning of the consequences from the point of view of food security.
According to reports, approximately 75,000 families, corresponding to 375,000 people, are at risk of facing food shortages in the coming months in Guro. The provincial director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ernesto Lopes, explained that the production of cereals, vegetables and legumes is seriously compromised in the region. The lack of water in agricultural fields has been one of the main challenges, especially affecting the administrative posts of Nhamassonge, Mandei and Mungari.
Ernesto Lopes highlighted the seriousness of the situation, considering the Guro district to be semi-arid and describing the scenario as bleak. The authorities are taking urgent measures, including sensitizing farmers to produce on river banks, using certified, short-cycle seeds. The focus is on sowing seeds for the second season and taking advantage of low-lying river areas, with the aim of producing alternative, drought-resistant vegetables.
El Niño also had a negative impact on the districts of Tambara, Machaze, Macate, Gondola and Macossa, where producers faced significant losses to their crops.
For the current agricultural season, the Guro district had planned to produce 92,000 tons of various crops, on an area of 50,000 hectares. In Manica province as a whole, around 72,000 producers were involved in the agricultural campaign, with a production plan of 4.4 million tons of various crops, most notably cereals.
The situation is worrying and requires an urgent and coordinated response to mitigate the devastating impacts that El Niño is having on agricultural production in Manica.
