Mozambique will invest in the use of drones (unmanned flying objects) to strengthen its capacity to prevent and respond to natural disasters such as cyclones and floods, as well as to save human lives.

This is a nationwide project, launched yesterday (03), to be implemented by the government, through the National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (INGD), with funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB), according to the AIM publication.

"The country must adapt to climate change and adopt early warning systems, because we can't move the country from the geographical area where it is, but we can learn to live with these extreme events without them wreaking havoc on our lives, by being resilient, so that we can save lives and property," said the director-general of the National Institute of Meteorology (INAM), Adérito Aramuge, during the launch of the Project.

Aramuge hopes that the country will strengthen its capacity to monitor disasters, such as floods, before and after the extreme event occurs, like other countries, with the use of drones at a height of around 150 meters and a distance of around two to three kilometers.

The source explained that drones are effective in providing detailed information and real images of events for better decision-making by disaster managers.

"If we have a road cut through a flooded area and, on the other side, we have the population, it is possible, through drones, to know the number of the population, identify the access routes to that place and have the real images of what is happening on the other side of the floods," he said, quoted in the publication.

The project is due to start in May. "The equipment has already been produced and is in Korea, all that remains is to import it into the country and then use the drones for the training itself."

The source assured, however, that the disaster managers, from different sessions, have already benefited from "very superficial" training, so that they can have an initial basis of what a drone is, how it is flown and how the information needed for disaster management can be collected.

For the Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Transformation, Américo Muchanga, who was present at the launch, the project marks an important step in transforming the way our country faces the challenges posed by extreme events of hydro-meteorological origin, which have caused great damage to our population and infrastructures".

The project will provide the country with four drones produced by South Korea, including a training drone used for mapping, monitoring and investigating large areas.

He also said that using this technology to predict and manage natural disasters will make it easier to obtain accurate, real-time data on the affected areas, "thus preserving human lives".

"It's an innovative solution that promises to transform the way we deal with these disasters," he explained.

Akposso Marcelle, representing the ADB, explained that this project represents a "clear commitment" to the safety of the population.

"More than bringing in technology, it's fundamentally about saving lives, reducing disaster risks and improving Mozambique's response capacity," he said.

The project will be implemented six months after the delivery of the drones in mid-May.

It is worth remembering that Mozambique has cyclically suffered from global climate change, facing floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, but also prolonged periods of severe drought.