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Mozambique

Mozambique in time of flood: GTZ sets the course for recovery

Eschborn, 9 March 2001

While the government of Mozambique is seeing that more and more people are brought to safety from the rising waters in the center of the country, experts from the Deutsche Gesellschaft f=FCr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (German Technical Cooperation), are setting the course for recovery when the waters recede. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, has made DM 2 million available in disaster relief funds.

"In addition to quick humanitarian aid, what is needed is assistance in reconstructing ruined social infrastructure and agriculture," says Ralf Kaltofen, GTZ expert for emergency aid measures. The provinces that are hardest hit are Tete, Manica, Zambezi and Sofala, with a total population of around 400,000. Nearly 100,000 people have fled the floodwaters.

The flood has destroyed or damaged important rural access roads and broad segments of the social infrastructure. "A substantial portion of the inhabitants have lost everything they own. What makes the situation even worse is that the flooding has ruined the harvest," says GTZ Office Director Rudolf Mutschler in Maputo.

GTZ is promoting two projects for rural development in the crisis region, in Manica and Sofala provinces. These projects will supplement the operations of the various aid organizations by assisting reconstruction. GTZ employees offer logistical support for national and international aid measures - for example, by transporting foodstuffs. Hoes and seed for planting beans and maize are being distributed so that agriculture can get off to a new start. In addition, GTZ is repairing schools, teachers' houses and the water-supply systems in both provinces.

"GTZ is in close contact with district and provincial authorities and also with the Mozambican bureau of disaster control, so that all measures can be optimally coordinated," says Mr. Mutschler. In Manica province, GTZ employees are cooperating with the Irish aid organization Concern. The focus is on help towards self-help. As Mr. Mutschler says, "The village associations pitch in and lend a hand." GTZ experts, who have been working on site for a number of years, can draw on a rich fund of experience in the country. "After the record flooding last year, too, we were able to provide aid quickly and efficiently," says Ralf Kaltofen. For example, GTZ was active in preventing epidemics and supporting the distribution of foodstuffs. To this day GTZ is rebuilding roads, health centers and schools.

"The waters are rising slower than they did last year, but a greater area has been flooded," Mr. Mutschler reports. The water now covers an area half as large as the German state of Hesse. It is feared that the situation may worsen in the next few days. The situation in the city of Marromeu, not far from the mouth of the Zambezi, is particularly critical. "If this city is flooded, at least 30,000 people will be affected," says Mr. Mutschler. And the weather service has by no means sounded the all-clear: heavy rainfall is forecast for the weekend in the stricken provinces.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft f=FCr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH is a service enterprise for development cooperation with worldwide operations. Owned by the Federal Republic of Germany, the organization operates as a private-sector enterprise with a development-policy mandate: to make sustainable improvements to the living conditions of people in partner countries, and to conserve the natural resource base on which life depends. GTZ has been active in Mozambique for more than 12 years, predominantly on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and is currently supporting 25 projects there. Key activity areas are training and education, and rural development.