Women and girls in Mozambique are struggling more than ever to cope with the current drought, the worst in 35 years, aggravated by a particularly powerful El Niño phenomenon, according to this CARE study. Up to 80 percent of the families are forced to reduce their meals to only one or two daily rations. Tens of thousands of children are expected to be acutely malnourished. The situation is particularly hard for teenage girls who lack the experience and knowledge to come up with strategies to protect themselves and their children from hunger. The CARE study also shows that those communities who participated in programs introducing new cultivation practices, better seeds and alternative income activities were far better prepared to manage lean months than those without knowledge.
Source: CARE International
