More than half of Mozambican families have been facing food difficulties, according to the latest Family Budget Survey (IOF), published by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

"Nationally, more than 50% of resident households experienced some food difficulty" during the 12 months prior to the interview by INE, reads the final report of the nutrition survey including in the IOF for the 2019/20 period. 

The most recent supplement, consulted today by Lusa, dedicates a section to the specific topic of Household Perception of Food Security.

Households were asked eight questions, some of which 78.4% said they have experienced "worrying about not having enough food," 58.1% said they have ever gone "without food at home," and 28.2% answered they have ever gone "a whole day without eating."

Disaggregating by area of residence, households living in rural areas responded in higher percentage to have ever gone a whole day without food (30.3%) compared to those living in urban areas (24%).

The provinces of Sofala (90%), Cabo Delgado (85%) and Nampula (85%) are those where more families reported experiencing the concern of not having enough food.

In Nampula, more than a third of households (37.9%) said they had already gone a whole day without eating, followed by Manica (32.9%) and Cabo Delgado (31.7%).

Cabo Delgado has been the target of armed attacks by rebel groups for the last four years, causing a serious humanitarian crisis, especially food crisis, with 871,000 displaced people who have sought help also in Nampula.

Sofala and Manica, in the center, are areas also affected by military instability derived from the presence of former guerrillas of the main opposition party, the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo).

The nutrition supplement of the 2019/20 Household Budget Survey was based on a sample of 13,343 households.

INE estimates that the Mozambican population is around 30 million, about half of which is under 18 years old, and that each woman has an average of five children.

Lusa Agency