Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes persist amidst a limited second season harvest

Crisis (IPC Phase 3) acute food insecurity outcomes continue in central and southern semiarid parts of the country as food access remains constrained and households’ cereal stocks are exhausted in areas affected by the 2015/16 El Niño drought and poor 2018 harvests. In the rest of the country, Minimal (IPC Phase 1) and Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes persist.

During a July assessment in Gaza Province, FEWS NET confirmed vegetable harvests from second season production are temporarily mitigating impacts of the significantly below-average main season harvests. In remote areas with limited second season production, poor households have below-average incomes, no food stocks, limited meal quantity and frequency, and heavily rely on wild foods for food access.

From June to July, staple food prices were mixed - prices started their seasonal increase in some markets, while prices remained atypically stable in other markets. In Pemba Market, maize grain prices atypically increased 50 percent while in Nampula and Beira Markets, typical levels of price increases were observed. The price spike in Pemba and in other northern markets potentially reflects lower crop production than initially estimated, affecting household food access.