Droughts destroy crops, floods undermine livelihoods and cyclones leave families homeless. In several Mozambican communities, extreme weather events pose a constant threat to economic survival. Against this backdrop, the non-governmental organisation Save the Children aims to strengthen income-generating capacity and social protection for 13,645 families by 2029, through an initiative covering nine districts in the provinces of Gaza, Manica and Tete.
The initiative, known as LINK, was presented in Maputo on Friday (16) and seeks to create conditions that enable the most vulnerable communities to withstand the effects of climate change without jeopardising their sources of income and living conditions.
According to the Lusa news agency, the project was designed to complement the Productive Social Action Programme (PASP), implemented by the Mozambican Government, by establishing a link between social assistance mechanisms, economic inclusion and adaptation to climate risks.
Save the Children's project director, Lionel Langa, explained that the initiative is expected to directly benefit 3,645 families enrolled in PASP, while a further 10,000 families will be reached through community-based activities aimed at strengthening their ability to respond to extreme weather events.
“Our commitment is to ensure that families benefiting from PASP have access to income-generating opportunities and become more resilient to the climate events to which they are exposed,” Lionel Langa said.
The project will focus particularly on semi-arid regions, where erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts and flooding have placed increasing pressure on agricultural production and local economic activities.
According to Langa, the combination of these risks calls for interventions that go beyond immediate assistance and establish lasting mechanisms to protect livelihoods.
“In areas so vulnerable to drought, we also experience flooding, which means we need a much more targeted intervention to ensure that we genuinely strengthen the resilience of our communities,” he added.
Children among the main victims of climate shocks
Save the Children's director, Ilaria Manunza, drew attention to the social consequences of natural disasters, stressing that the effects of climate change extend beyond infrastructure damage and the loss of agricultural production.
According to Manunza, families' increasing exposure to extreme weather events, including those associated with El Niño, makes it essential to develop social protection systems capable of anticipating risks and mitigating their impact on communities.
She warned that when a family loses its crops or home, the consequences can extend to children's nutrition, education and well-being, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities.
“When a family loses its harvest because of drought or sees its home destroyed by a cyclone, children are among the worst affected. Their nutritional status deteriorates,” she observed.
Manunza therefore advocated an integrated response capable of addressing the economic, social and environmental challenges facing the communities involved.
Funded by the Green Climate Fund, the LINK project will bring together four key areas: social protection, climate change adaptation, disaster risk management and local economic development.
Ilaria Manunza also emphasised the importance of involving communities themselves in identifying problems and determining appropriate responses, ensuring the meaningful participation of women, young people, children and people with disabilities.
Government highlights contribution to social policies
Representing the Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Action, Gertrudes Jonas said the implementation of LINK could help deepen understanding of the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities.
She also highlighted the initiative's potential to strengthen public social protection policies at a time when extreme weather events continue to pose challenges to families' economic and social stability.
Scheduled to run until 2029, the project will combine socioeconomic inclusion measures, diversification of income sources and efforts to strengthen communities' capacity to adapt.
Across the nine selected districts in Gaza, Manica and Tete, Save the Children therefore aims to help thousands of families become better equipped to cope with droughts, floods and other extreme weather events, reducing their dependence on emergency assistance and strengthening their economic independence.
The initiative is built around a central priority: enabling communities most exposed to climate risks to use social protection and income-generating opportunities as tools to build safer and more sustainable living conditions.
