The imposition of value-added tax (VAT) on essential goods such as sugar and cooking oil since January has contributed to food insecurity and hunger in Cabo Delgado province, according to an assessment by the World Food Programme (WFP) published on Wednesday.
The addition of VAT, combined with the effects of the violent conflict in Cabo Delgado and a below-average harvest in the last agricultural season, has pushed parts of the province, including the district of Mocímboa da Praia, into an “emergency” situation under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IFSPC).
The price of a kilogram of sugar across Cabo Delgado has increased from $1.11-1.26 in December 2023 to $1.42-1.74 in January this year, an increase in price of between 20% to 38%, according to the WFP.
The purchasing power of households relying on local markets has “depleted dramatically” since the beginning of 2023, the report said, due to conflict in Cabo Delgado and a below-average harvest in the last agricultural season.
Around 66% of households in Cabo Delgado are facing food insecurity, an increase of almost 30% since August last year. Eleven of the province’s 17 districts are in a state of ‘crisis’ while two - Mocímboa da Praia and Meluco - are in an ‘emergency’, according to the IFSPC.
The IFSPC defines a crisis as when families are barely able to meet their food needs and 10-15% of the population is facing acute malnutrition while an emergency is when 15-30% is acutely malnourished.
Households displaced by the conflict with Islamic State-backed insurgents are struggling with particularly severe shortages of food, with 85% in the districts of Mocímboa Da Praia, Mueda, Namuno, Chiure and Balama classified on one of the IFSPC’s levels of food insecurity.
Flooding brought on by the wet season has also affected roads in Cabo Delgado, triggering food inflation, as Zitamar News reported in early April.
Tom Gould
