In Mozambique: Extreme weather events affected 10 million people and caused economic losses of about 1.1% of GDP
Over the past decade, extreme weather events such as floods, cyclones, droughts, and tropical storms have impacted over 10 million people in Mozambique, Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane reported.
Speaking at the 33rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Member Countries of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) via videoconference, Maleiane highlighted that, besides the negative impact on food security, the situation has led to the loss of assets and damage to economic and social infrastructures.
With the theme "State Resilience to Various Shocks Related to Natural Disasters and Food Security," the Prime Minister addressed the recurrent extreme weather events and food security in Mozambique.
"In the last 10 years, the occurrence of cyclones and floods in the country affected more than 10 million people, with the loss of assets and damage to economic and social infrastructures due to these phenomena corresponding to about 1.1% of the average annual GDP loss," he said.
For instance, in 2013, the flooding in the Limpopo Basin caused damages exceeding 517 million dollars, equivalent to more than 3% of the GDP. In 2019, the total cost of recovery and reconstruction after Cyclone Idai was estimated at 2.9 billion dollars, just for the provinces of Sofala, Manica, Tete, and Zambézia.
"Given this scenario, our country has been developing various actions aimed at strengthening resilience to climate-related shocks, as well as implementing reforms for disaster risk reduction," Maleiane assured.
He explained that among the actions the Government has been adopting for disaster risk reduction are the implementation of the Master Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction (2017-2030) and Law 10/2020 on Disaster Risk Management and Reduction.
