What future for Mozambique hit by the cyclone?

Mozambique is in shock after two unprecedented hurricanes hit the coast in six weeks, wreaking havoc and leaving hundreds of people dead and tens of thousands displaced.

As relief efforts continue, Birgit Holm, director of ADPP, a Mozambican non-governmental development organization, discusses the next steps in rebuilding an impoverished country in southern Africa after Cyclones Idai and Kenneth:

What was the impact of the cyclones?

Hurricane Kenneth's trajectory and accumulated precipitation forecasts. By (AFP)

"They had a very big impact, of course." Although the first storm was much larger than the second, "that did not improve the second," said Holm, who has nearly four decades of experience in Mozambique with ADPP.

"In several provinces, schools have been destroyed and clinics, bridges and roads also, and these two cyclones have mostly destroyed, affecting more than two million people.

"This is moving back Mozambique, which is already a very poor country and faces many problems, so it was catastrophic."

What needs to be done?

"The great need is for those with means and funds to be able to rehabilitate all the destroyed infrastructure, because many people have also lost their homes and livelihoods, (but) this is not the case. only a question of infrastructure, "said Holm. .

"It's also about making a contribution to the people, and it's going to be a lot of agricultural inputs because a lot of people are working in agriculture, and that part really needs a lot of attention to get tools and seeds. "

What does the future hold?

"In the future, this (kind of weather) will increase, I do not think anyone doubts it," said Holm.

Mozambique's homes need to be strengthened and farmers need to learn how to mitigate droughts and floods, said an aid expert. By Guillem Sartorio (AFP)

"The fact that the two cyclones occurred in six weeks has never happened, never, and the size of these cyclones and their large size because of the very high temperatures in the sea, it will not be different." in the future, it will be worse.

"We need to look at how to strengthen and build buildings to be more resilient, how small farmers can learn to use new techniques, whether to mitigate droughts or floods."

For several years in Mozambique, "we have had drought in the south, and people are suffering, and then we have floods in the center and the north, so all of these things have to be looked at differently.

"There have been years and years of work on mitigating climate change – but this must be even more than before … so that the population can be prepared for these situations at the same time. ;to come up."

Will the "cyclone" help Mozambique?

Some aid agencies reportedly planned to establish a long-term presence in Mozambique after the storms. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

"It always helps, but you worry that the situation is only there during the brief period of the emergency and that it disappears again," Holm told AFP.

"What I'm hoping for, and what some of the organizations that have come to this country without being here before, say is that some people are thinking of pursuing and pursuing longer-term projects.

"The government says it will take at least five years to rehabilitate itself and get back to what we were – and that we were not at such a high level. So it's really necessary and I Hope that the organizations and institutions that have these means will start looking to give Mozambique the help they need.And not just the loans, we do not need more than ready. "