The government of South Korea is set to aid smallholder farmers in the central Mozambican province of Sofala.
Through its Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the government has donated US $5.7 million to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for the project. The project will improve food security and livelihoods with a focus on climate resilience for smallholder farmers.
The project will begin in the districts of Chemba, Maringue, and Caia, and by the time the project is completed in 2025 it will have helped 36,000 smallholder farmers and their families. It will be run in association with Mozambique’s Ministry of Land and Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the National Meteorology Institute (INAM).
Impacts of climate change
WFP points out that Mozambique is one of the country’s most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and that “over the past three years, five tropical cyclones (Desmond, Idai, Kenneth, Chalane, Eloise, and Guambe) have caused human and material damage mainly in central Mozambique”.
According to Antonella D’Aprile, WFP Country Director in Mozambique, “this generous donation from the people of Korea through KOICA will help change the lives of Mozambicans most affected by climate change”.
She explained that “by supporting smallholder farmers to become climate-resilient, we are also protecting their livelihoods and food security of their families and communities”.
