Long-term food supplies in Mozambique are now at risk because farmlands have been ruined by Cyclone Idai, leaving locals susceptible to starvation.
Eliza Joao doesn't know where her next meal will come from. Heavy rains and strong winds, ushered in by Cyclone Idai, wiped out all of her crops last week.
"The dimensions of the disaster are not fully apparent. Assessments are still going on. But it's very clear that it's an immense disaster," Gerald Bourke, spokesperson for the World Food ProgrammeWFP was distributing food within 48 hours of Cyclone Idai hitting the port city. The National Disasters Management Institute, the official disaster relief agency of Mozambique, estimates that more than 470 000 hectares of crops were washed away during the flooding.
Rogers and her team flew out to Chimoio, a city 200km from Beira. People living on the fringes of the city were hit the hardest. The local government donated flour, beans, sugar and oil but these items will run out in a day or two. They ration the food carefully so their stock lasts longer. "If the community doesn't start farming now, there will be a hunger crisis of much bigger proportion than today because it will be sustained over the long term," said Rogers.
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