Maputo, July 31, 2025 (Lusa) - The Rural Environment Observatory (OMR), a Mozambican non-governmental organisation, warns that the country continues to experience critical levels of chronic malnutrition and food insecurity, pointing to long-term consequences.
“Mozambique currently faces a paradoxical situation: despite having better overall food availability than at any other time in its recent history, it continues to record critical levels of chronic malnutrition and food insecurity,” reads a report by the NGO, to which Lusa had access on Thursday.
According to OMR, about one-third of the Mozambican population is undernourished (29.5% in 2018-2020) and 37% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition.
“Acute malnutrition is around 3-5% in children, suggesting that in normal times relatively few suffer from severe hunger, but these percentages increase during emergencies,” it adds.
According to the organisation, chronic malnutrition "has long-term consequences" for the country: "it is estimated that up to 10% of GDP [Gross Domestic Product] is lost annually due to reduced productivity, school performance and health expenditure associated with child malnutrition".
“In the field of sanitation, despite advances, gaps persist that affect nutrition: only about 11% of rural areas had adequate sanitation in 2020, and drinking water coverage was about 50% in rural areas (80% in cities),” the document states.
The OMR also explains that endemic diseases such as malaria and periodic outbreaks of cholera and other intestinal infections mainly affect communities with untreated water in Mozambique.
“The current situation is characterised by improved average access to food, but with persistent pockets of severe hunger in times of crisis and an unacceptable level of chronic malnutrition,” it adds.
Among the consequences of this problem, the NGO points to children with limited physical and cognitive development, less productive adults who are more prone to disease, and communities forced into survival strategies "that perpetuate poverty".
“Mozambique is therefore at a stage where it must prevent deaths from starvation and ensure diversified and adequate diets and decent living conditions so that all children can grow up without malnutrition – that is, guarantee the human right to adequate food in its entirety, not just the minimum necessary for survival,” the document adds.
The country has made progress in reducing food insecurity, but chronic malnutrition, especially among children under 5, remains high, affecting 37% of this population group, according to government data released in 2023.
To address the problem, the Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Strategy (PESAN) 2024-2030 was developed, aiming to integrate multisectoral efforts to ensure food and nutrition security throughout the country.
The document launched on 20 June aims to “provide quality technical assistance and create mechanisms to encourage those with technical and professional training to disseminate their knowledge to producers in their communities,” it added.
According to the executive secretary of the Technical Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security (SETSAN), over the last 10 years, the rate of chronic malnutrition in children under 5 years of age has fallen from 43% (2013) to the current 37% (2023), levels still considered very high when compared to World Health Organisation recommendations.
Groups of civil society organisations in the country have warned of the urgent need to combat child malnutrition in Mozambique, a situation aggravated by climate and security factors.
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