WFP reaffirms availability of food stocks

WFP said in a statement on Thursday sufficient food stocks were available in Mozambique to feed people affected by the recent floods. The UN agency said that 200 mt of commodities were stored at Mutarara in the centre of the country. "There are currently approximately 24,000 people in the camps at Mutarara. Stock for the operation in Mutarara is being replenished as necessary and no breaks are foreseen in the pipeline," WFP noted.

News reports said on Wednesday that thousands of displaced people faced hunger because there were not enough food stocks at accommodation centres. WFP is currently feeding approximately 108,000 people in the four provinces affected by the current flooding.

Meanwhile, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest update on Thursday that water levels downstream of the Zambezi river had decreased, but continued to be above the flood-alert level in Zumbo, Tete, Mutarara, Caia, and Marromeu. The update noted that the level of the Pungoe river in southern Manica province was falling, opening the road linking Beira to the west. It added that the levels of the Licungo river and other rivers in Zambezia province have gone down.

"The roads between Beira (the port city in Sofala province) and Caia (near the border with Malawi), and into Beira from Maputo and Zimbabwe have been reopened," the update said.