Maputo, Sept. 14, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambique's president called on Monday for early action to mitigate the impacts of El Niño, which is approaching at an «accelerated and alarming» rate, and urged new ways of funding food security in one of the countries most affected by disasters.
Speaking at the opening of the 1st National Conference on Food and Nutritional Security, under the theme «Food and Nutritional Security: Collective Responsibility for Mozambique's Development», Daniel Chapo said the country is repeatedly affected by natural disasters and called for a focus on strengthening food security.
«We must anticipate the crisis and respond before it strikes. That is why (…) we are insisting on discussing El Niño precisely so that we can anticipate, prevent and build resilience, by investing in water management, irrigation, adapted technology, early warning systems and storage, as El Niño approaches, as we have mentioned, at an accelerated and alarming rate,» said the president of Mozambique.
Chapo called for the ongoing conference to discuss civic education on how best to manage and mitigate the challenges that this phenomenon will pose to the country, increasing social and economic costs and causing prolonged droughts in one of the ten countries worldwide that is cyclically affected by such events.
«All of this requires resources and a new approach to funding food and nutritional security. This funding is no longer a social expense, but rather an investment in national development, and investing in nutrition is strengthening human capital,» Chapo said.
In the same remarks, he highlighted the need for greater involvement from the private sector and civil society organisations in combating these natural phenomena, adding that only through collective efforts can the country build a national alliance for food and nutritional security.
On Friday, Mozambique estimated that it would record 6 million cases of climate-sensitive diseases, notably malaria, meningitis and diarrhoea, due to the impacts of the El Niño weather phenomenon, forecast for the period 2026–2027.
The warning comes as a technical analysis by Mozambican and international organisations estimated a 55% increase in acute food insecurity by March 2027, affecting 1.84 million people, due to armed conflict in the north of the country, the El Niño phenomenon, and depleted food reserves.
The forecast is contained in an analysis of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, coordinated by the Technical Secretariat for Food and Nutritional Security, which points to a worsening of the situation compared with the current figure of 1.19 million people facing acute food insecurity.
Mozambique's government had already warned of the potential impacts of the El Niño phenomenon in at least 52 districts in the country's southern and central regions, saying it was preparing an action plan to mitigate the effects of drought and water scarcity.
PME/ADB // ADB.
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