About 1,800 families are facing a food crisis, caused by drought and drought in the administrative post of Chipopopo, in the district of Machaze, Manica province.

The head of the Department of Food Security and Nutrition in the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries, in Manica, Dionísio Rapieque, told journalists that the families affected by food insecurity are those who lost part of their crops due to the drought and drought that hit some regions of the district.

"There was a great commitment on the part of the population to agricultural production. But drought and dry spells have devastated some regions of the district. Right now we are mobilizing some merchants and other stakeholders to bet on trade. They can take cereals to Machaze and get some products from there", he said.

Rapieque advises the population not to commercialize the little production achieved in the first season, as a way to prevent more people from being plunged into the food crisis affecting the Chipopopo area.

"There are families that even with the drought and drought have managed some production. Our appeal is that they don't sell everything they have harvested. Make an exchange thinking that they also need to feed themselves. In some cases people look at the barn and think they have a lot of production. They sell everything and go hungry," said Rapieque.

He assured that the institution he heads is working with the population to bet on the second season of the 2021/22 agrarian campaign.

"The population is making use of the lowlands for some drought-resistant crops, such as manioc," he explained.

Machaze expects to harvest in the second season of the agrarian campaign 11,712 tons of various crops, in an area of 5884 hectares. The district has 126,000 inhabitants, with two administrative posts, namely Save and Chitobe.

Source: AIM