Humanitarian food assistance is mitigating Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes in most areas

In most southern and central drought and cyclone affected areas, Stressed! (IPC Phase 2!) outcomes prevail as humanitarian food assistance continues to mitigate more severe outcomes. In southern Gaza province, humanitarian assistance is expected to mitigate previous Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes to Stressed ! (IPC Phase 2!). Where humanitarian assistance is accessible, it is broadly covering around 70 percent of households, although, some households are expected to still face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) as humanitarian assistance will not meet all of the needs. Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes persist in parts of Zambézia, Tete and Cabo Delgado. The rest of the country is in Minimal (IPC Phase 1). 

Seed assistance through CBT and in-kind is ongoing and expected to cover nearly 130,000 households in central and northern regions. Planting activities are ongoing in the south where November rainfall has generally begun but remains  below average. Additional rainfall is required for planting and growing, particularly in the southern semiarid areas where drought conditions were more severe and rainfall has yet to be fully established. Planting has also begun in the central region as rainfall extends northwards and is expected to begin in the north in December.

The start of rains in southern and central regions is providing agriculture labor for most poor households. Income of middle and better off households in areas affected by this year’s shocks was well below average, which reduces their ability to pay agricultural laborers. Because of this, payments are expected to be below average and will most likely be in-kind with the harvest.

In October, maize grain prices had mixed trends with markets where prices were trending at levels 30 to 100 percent above last year and 30 to 50 percent above the five-year average. The abnormally high maize grain prices this year are caused by the below average market supply in the 2019/2020 consumption year following the below average harvest of 2018/19 agriculture season. The abnormally high prices of staple maize grain will further constrain the purchasing power of poor households who are now relying heavily on market purchase for food. As typical, prices of both maize meal and rice were stable and relatively close to the 5-year average.