Niassa Flood Relief

Diocese do Niassa

Igreja Anglicana de África Austral

Though January is typically the wettest month of the rainy season, Northern and Central Mozambique have received exceptional levels of rainfall in 2015.   Some areas received in 24 hours the same amount of rain that was projected for the whole month of January.  Because of flooding, more than 30,000 families have been affected and nearly 40,000 ha of crops have been lost.

The Diocese of Niassa has focused its response in the following areas:

	Number of villages	Number of households, total
Province of Zambezia, District of Morrumbala	10	550
Province of Zambezia, District of Milange	10	500
Province of Niassa, District of Mecanhelas	10	900
Total	30	1950

Though the magnitude of our response does not match the scale of the disaster, we are working to faithfully respond where we can and how we can—using our strength in community mobilization and our ability to work effectively in very remote areas.

Emergency Response Committees:

The Diocese of Niassa has worked through emergency response committees in 30 communities to identify the most vulnerable households among the thousands affected by these floods.  We believe that this emergency response work should be managed as much as possible by the members of the affected communities, rather than people coming from outside. These volunteer committees, mobilized by our diocesan Mission Department, are composed of traditional authorities and representatives from the local government, representatives of all churches and mosques in the community, a Mother’s Union representative, and a youth representative. Ten of the communities in which we are working had pre-existing emergency response committees, which had received extensive training in years past and were already coordinating local responses before any of our clergy or staff members visited. Twenty committees were formed in the context of this disaster, and will receive more training in coming months about disaster preparedness and mitigation.  These emergency response committees have been praised by government officials in various provinces—and, in some cases, government officials are encouraging similar committees even in areas where we are not working.

In choosing the most vulnerable households, these committees have prioritized households who are caring for sick or disabled people, who are caring for orphaned children, or who are have no able-bodied adults.

Immediate response:

As an immediate response, families are receiving 45 kg of maize for consumption, soap, a mosquito net, and chlorine solution for water purification.  While most of the products have been distributed, a few villages are still unreachable, except by helicopter, and have not yet received all of these products. 

Families in Zambezia are also receiving a hoe, fast-growing maize seed, and kale and tomato seeds in order to replant a bit of their farms.  Similar agricultural support will be provided in Mecanhelas as funding becomes available.

All work has been done in partnership with the local branches of the National Institute for Emergency Management, as well as other local government authorities.

Longer-term response:

We will work with the Emergency Response Committees and the Local “Equipas de Vida” (“Teams of Life”) to enable communities to reduce their vulnerability to disasters, particularly through agricultural interventions.

Logistics:

Fields have become rivers and rivers lack bridges. Our team has travelled by lorry, canoe, motorbike, minibus, and foot to help transport materials from the places they are available to the people who need them. But these logistical challenges pale in comparison with the challenge of losing one’s home and—perhaps more significantly—losing ones farm, which holds the year’s sustenance.