Preliminary results from a government crop and food assessment at the end of August indicated there would be "several pockets" of food insecurity in the country which would need some kind of relief intervention by the end of the year, WFP said in its latest emergency report.

WFP spokesman in Maputo, Inyene Udoyen, told IRIN on Monday that the government's disaster authority - the INGC - had selected several districts in the Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, Sofala, Manica and Tete provinces for the assessment. The update said WFP was already active in most of these areas because they were "chronically food insecure". It said that in Gaza province, the poor harvest had been exacerbated by very low levels of rainfall and the failure of normal coping mechanisms.

The food agency said that in collaboration with World Vision it had started some food-for-work activities in Caia, about 225 km north of the coastal city of Beira, and in Morrumbala, about 130 km west of Quelimane, the provincial capital of Sofala province. "WFP intends to phase out the general food distributions by the end of September," the update said. "In other areas, WFP will work directly with district authorities on recovery activities."

WFP said that August food distributions were "seriously affected" by delayed deliveries, forcing many WFP partners to distribute a reduced amount of food. It said that over 2,000 mt of food were distributed during August.