Desafios e perspectivas para o alcance da segurança alimentar e nutricional em Moçambique

Abstract

This text seeks to analyze the situation of food and nutritional security in Mozambique. It observes that the high prevalence of food insecurity and malnutrition is, to a large extent, a political issue, since the efforts to combat it have not been efficient or effective in achieving its eradication. At the same time, many Mozambican families continue to suffer from hunger and malnutrition, even though the country possesses vast fertile land which, if properly invested in, could allow for food production through which the State might guarantee citizens’ access to adequate nutrition. Poverty is one of the main determinants of food and nutritional security, and to this, one must add the lack of public policies aimed at combating food insecurity and malnutrition. It is true that the country is not self-sufficient in terms of food production, but the lack of purchasing power among many families leads to their vulnerability to food insecurity and malnutrition. However, pregnant women and children under five years of age are those who suffer the most from hunger and malnutrition to the extent that some develop anemia, another public health problem. Therefore, it is argued that the State must implement public policies capable of financing food production, prioritizing the family farming sector, which includes most of the Mozambican population, residing in rural areas and relying exclusively on agricultural activities.