Joacim Pinto symbolizes the plight of many rural farmers in Mozambique who saw their fields devastated by the 2025–2026 flood season. A once-independent household now grapples with the increasing difficulty of purchasing food. The land that once supported Pinto's family—supplying both nutrition and earnings—was entirely overtaken by floodwaters and has yet to recover. Without crops to gather or livestock to depend on, his family’s ability to secure sufficient food has been critically compromised.
The floods that ravaged Mozambique from late December 2025 into early 2026 uprooted countless individuals and left behind severe damage to crucial infrastructure. Irrigation systems, roadways, and storage facilities were either obliterated or heavily impaired. For those engaged in small-scale agriculture, the repercussions have been swift and severe. The devastation has forced many to abandon their reliance on locally grown food and shift to acquiring supplies from markets where costs have sharply risen.
Pinto's Changing Reality
In the past, Pinto cultivated maize, beans, and cassava right in his back garden, which served as a safeguard for his family against the unpredictability of market prices. Now, he passes by that same stretch of land, now barren and unusable. In his area, many such spaces remain uncultivated, and families are compelled to depend on nearby markets, which have become both more distant and increasingly expensive to access.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has reported that the floods have significantly disrupted transportation. Major roads are blocked, causing market closures and causing transportation expenses to climb rapidly. With fewer goods reaching impacted regions, the cost of essential food items has soared, deepening the issue of food insecurity among local populations.
Merchants in Xai-Xai, including Shuwa Anolis, have had to raise prices to compensate for the higher transportation and fuel costs. 'We had to increase the price of rice, flour, and live chicken by 10 percent,' Anolis told Al Jazeera. These price increases place an added strain on the most economically disadvantaged populations, who already find it difficult to afford necessary items. With transport corridors submerged and impossible to navigate, the cost of getting goods from one place to another has shot up, and these increased expenses are being passed directly onto consumers.
Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, a professor who specializes in climate change and food systems, observed that frequent natural disasters like these are altering how at-risk rural communities adjust. 'People are beginning to experience diets becoming poorer, with restricted access to a wide range of food,' he noted. The recent floods followed the 2024–2025 El Niño drought, which had already placed enormous strain on food systems throughout southern Africa. Communities that were still in the process of recovering from the drought are now facing another significant blow.
Dual Threats and Deteriorating Conditions
As conditions deteriorate, families like Pinto's are facing a two-fold problem. First, the immediate threat posed by the floodwaters, and second, the slower but equally serious threat of hunger. These dual challenges are creating a cycle of vulnerability that is tough to break. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations found that around 275,405 hectares of farmland were impacted by the floods, endangering the livelihoods of about 314,783 farmers. This loss of agricultural output is causing a chain reaction across the country, particularly in rural regions where farming is the main source of food and earnings.
Prior to the floods, Pinto's garden was a critical element of his family's food security approach. It provided nourishment and also reduced their dependence on shops and traders. Today, with the land left infertile and food expenses on the rise, families are being driven further into a state of food insecurity. The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that access to food is being disrupted in many affected areas. Roads are now impassable, markets are nonfunctional, and the cost of transportation has become prohibitively high.
Ana Mato Hombre, a WFP spokesperson for Mozambique, stated that although the inflation rate can differ from district to district, the pressure on food prices is intense and primarily fueled by a major decrease in supply along with an uptick in humanitarian needs. 'In many areas hit by the floods, food stocks were lost, cropland destroyed, and several markets are not operating at all,' she explained. Hombre also mentioned that while a few traders might be capitalizing on the situation, the primary cause of rising prices is the loss of production and the disruptions to the supply chain.
Rising Prices and Struggling Traders
Mabhaudhi, who has researched climate-related threats to food systems in Southern Africa, noted that frequent disasters are changing how vulnerable communities cope. 'With every flood or drought we experience in the Southern African region, food prices climb due to supply shortages and the high cost of importing food,' he told Al Jazeera. Families that had already suffered the 2024–2025 El Niño drought are now dealing with another disaster, leaving them little opportunity to bounce back. This ongoing cycle of crises is making it increasingly difficult for communities to adapt and become more resilient.
The crisis has also reached traders attempting to keep food flowing. The floods disrupted key transport corridors connecting southern and northern Mozambique, causing fuel and delivery expenses to rise. 'Take a look at the main highway connecting the south to the north of the country; it was submerged and impossible to use. Our fuel costs are still high,' Anolis remarked. He added that the cost of prepared chicken rose after the floods as moving and supplying food became more expensive.
For families who have lost their crops, rising prices introduce yet another level of hardship. Traders are striving to recoup their increased costs while households that once sustained themselves through their own land are now forced to buy food at costs they find hard to manage. This creates a challenging cycle, where each disaster further complicates the ability to recover.