Disease hits staple crop in the north

Parts of Mozambique's northern province of Nampula are facing food shortages due to devastation of the staple crop, cassava, by brown streak disease. The World Food Programme (WFP) deputy director in Mozambique, Karin Manente, told IRIN on Tuesday that the agency was "setting up an assessment mission" to visit the affected districts in Nampula and would be able to assist the affected districts after the assessment mission returned with its findings, including the numbers of people in need. A joint WFP and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) crop and food supply assessment mission earlier this year found that "the main problem regarding pests and diseases is brown streak disease of cassava, which is seriously affecting yields in Memba [a district of Nampula] and to a lesser extent in parts of the neighbouring districts". The report noted that farmers had tried to harvest their cassava crops earlier than usual in an attempt "to beat the rot that sets in and spoils the tubers". Manente said it was now evident that "three or four districts" in the northern coastal area of Nampula had been adversely affected by the spread of brown streak disease. "Cassava is a staple food in that part of the country ... we're setting up a mission and looking at how we can support them. Already we are talking to a couple of the NGOs about a programme to support [people in need] in those areas for a three- to six-month period." Meanwhile, a preliminary report from a joint government and WFP mission to Chemba, Maringue and Buzi districts in the central Sofala province "indicates a worsening food security situation". In its latest situation report WFP noted that "most of the people interviewed have food stocks to last only through September, and others through October". "Also, the Zumbo district administration in the western province of Tete reported that 14,500 people were food insecure in 17 villages. According to the administrator, some of them are abandoning their houses ... in search of food aid. WFP is working closely with cooperating partners to assess the situation," the report added. The joint WFP/FAO crop and food supply assessment report indicated that some 187,000 Mozambicans would require food aid until March 2005.