Mozambique

Context

Mozambique is a fertile country in south east Africa, still recovering from civil war. The legacy of war and the country's vulnerability to floods, droughts and earthquakes create serious setbacks to development.

Extreme poverty remains widespread, with low life expectancy and a high child mortality rate. The government estimates that over half of the population do not have safe water to drink. Diarrhoea causes around 10% of deaths of children under the age of five.

Only 17% of households in Mozambique have access to a clean, safe toilet.

WaterAid's programme:

WaterAid began working in Mozambique in 1995. Our work has particularly focused on collaborating with government departments to implement the national water policy in a way that ensures the poorest people benefit from affordable and long lasting projects.

Mozambique country strategy 2010-2015 

What has WaterAid achieved?
  • In 2010/11 WaterAid projects reached 52,000 people with water and 45,000 people with sanitation.
  • WaterAid introduced the rope pump to poor rural areas, providing a cheap alternative to water supply that is easy to maintain. 
  • WaterAid-promoted composting latrines, which mix human waste with soil and ash to make compost for agriculture, are helping to improve both sanitation and crop yields in Mozambique.
  • 100% of households in Urbanizção, a barrio (unplanned city neighbourhood) within the capital city Maputo, now have access to clean and safe sanitation.

Omar Salima
Credit: WaterAid /
Thérèse Mahon

Case study

Omar Salima, a farmer, in fields that he has fertilised with compost from his village's latrine.

In the past we had to buy artificial fertiliser and we could only afford to open a small field – just 3 hectares. Now we are able to farm 13 hectares.quote end

Price points:

  • £11 could pay for a tap in an urban area
  • £6 could pay for water point mapping in a region (including tools) in a rural area
  • £138 could pay for a workshop for 12 community members
  • £698 could pay for a city water kiosk

Films/ technology/other links:

Celebrating sanitation 

Rope pumps: a simpler solution

 

Mozambique
Mozambique
Area: 801,590km²
Capital: Maputo
Other main cities:
Beira, Quelimane,
Nampula
  • Population
    Population icon23.4m
  • Infant mortality
    Infant mortality icon135/1000
  • Child deaths (under five) from diarrhoea per annum
    Under five icon13,000
  • Life expectancy
    Life expectancy icon49 years
  • Water supply coverage
    Water supply coverage icon47%
  • Sanitation coverage
    Sanitation coverage icon17%
  • Below poverty line
    Below poverty line icon55%
  • Development index
    Development index icon184
  • Adult literacy
    Adult literacy icon56%
World Bank (2011) World Development Indicators database - databank.worldbank.org, WHO / UNICEF (2010) Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report 2010, UNDP (2011), Human Development Report 2011
NB. Official statistics tend to understate the extent of water and sanitation problems, sometimes by a large factor. 
 

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