The natural disasters which have struck Mozambique this year have compromised the target for agricultural growth in the country this year. According to state-controlled Radio Mozambique, the Confederation of Mozambican Business Associations (CTA), furthermore, the military tensions in the centre of the country, where gunmen of the rebel movement Renamo have been ambushing vehicles on the main roads, have provoked a further exodus from the countryside into the cities and this endangers the normal course of productive activities. In the government’s Economic and Social Plan for 2016, the growth target for the agricultural sector is set at 6.5 per cent, but now the estimate is that growth in this sector will be less than five per cent, according to CTA Chairman Rogerio Manuel while addressing a meeting of the Business Environment Monitoring Council at the weekend. The meeting brought together government and business representatives. Manuel, argued that the drought in southern and central Mozambique should push growth targets downwards. The drought has pushed almost 1.5 million people into food insecurity and the opposite problem faces the northern provinces, where heavy rains have led to localized flooding, affecting about 32,000 people. In the south of the country, 174,000 hectares of crops have been lost because of the drought, said Manuel, and 4,500 cattle have died due to lack of pasture and water. He warned that a further 43,500 head of cattle are at risk. These problems, he added, force the country’s business community to reflect deeply on what can be done to overcome the effects of such phenomena. Source - freshplaza.com