A study by the Observatory of the Rural Environment (OMR) says that the government's focus on cash crops and the suspension of school lunch programs are making the incidence of chronic malnutrition in the country increasingly high.

However, the government recognizes that these problems exist, especially in rural areas.

According to the study cited by VOA, public policies and strategies focused on cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, soybeans, macadamia nuts, sugar, and others, end up marginalizing the issue of health and nutrition, because peasants give more priority to these crops, according to Mariam Abbas, a researcher at the Rural Environment Observatory.

Abbas says that until very recently Mozambique had projects aimed at improving nutrition in communities and schools, particularly the National School Feeding Program, which played a positive role in reducing chronic malnutrition.

"However, these programs have finished their term, and at this moment we don't have any program to replace them, we must try to maintain the continuity of these programs," argued that researcher quoted by VOA.

For her part, the Minister of Education and Human Development, Carmelita Namashulua, recognizes that these problems exist, stating that "the persistence of hunger and malnutrition, can cause long-lasting and irreversible effects on the state of health and productivity of people in our country.

Recently, the African Union, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the United Nations Children's Fund this week released the report titled "Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2021," which revealed an increase in extreme poverty and malnutrition in Africa.

In the case of Mozambique, the prevalence of undernourishment is 31.2%, a situation that national experts classify as chaotic.