Few Mozambican households have enough food: report

More than half the number of Mozambicans interviewed in a recent poverty survey said they had been unable to meet household food needs in the last 12 months, and many did not have access to sufficient water. About 8,000 Mozambicans in 102 of the 146 rural and urban districts of Mozambique participated in the research conducted by a group of civil society organisations called G20, as part of its contribution to the "poverty observatory". The observatory monitors the effectiveness of the government's Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (PARPA), with the assistance of donors and the UN Development Programme. The PARPA is similar to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers that several countries in Southern Africa have developed and adopted in consultation with the World Bank. Mozambique's PARPA was formally adopted in April 2001 by both the World Bank and the government, and calls for a reduction of the poverty rate to 60 percent by 2005 and 50 percent by 2010. Priorities include support for education, boosting agricultural production and rural development, improving basic infrastructure, promoting good governance and upgrading financial and economic management. A majority of households reporting that a member of their family had been ill in the past three months also declared they had had insufficient food. The G20 said it was concerned that a large number of Mozambicans could not afford to buy medicines, despite government's efforts to subsidise medication. The report underscored the need to increase the productivity of the family sector to improve food security and train communities to construct improved wells instead of "waiting" for state-hired contractors to build them. More than half the Mozambicans interviewed turned to their families to resolve social conflicts rather than the state's legal system because of a lack of trust in the government institutions, many of which were perceived to be corrupt. While more than 75 percent of respondents had land for cultivation and approximately 80 percent had a stand to live on, 40 percent of them did not have security of tenure. "They declared that they fear that the state will take away their land or stand. The insecurity levels are greater among the unemployed, the young students and the better educated," the report noted. Only 35 percent of the surveyed families indicated that they had savings. "Of these, one half keep the savings as a precaution towards any need, one quarter invests in small business and 10 percent in the children's education," said the group. On the basis of the data collected, the G20 has proposed the creation of consultative councils comprising representatives of NGOs, political parties and other interest groups to identify actions to combat poverty and corruption, and participate in the allocation and use of land. The group also suggested that an incentive package be created to benefit enterprises whose activities had a direct effect upon the poor, such as generation of employment. Among other proposals, G20 recommended promoting the national entrepreneurial sector, with an emphasis on small and medium enterprises and cooperatives.