Mozambique

In 1975 the republic of Mozambique won its independence after nearly 500 years as a Portuguese colony. The following decades were filled with civil war (1977–92), massive emigration by the white population, economic dependence on South Africa, and severe drought. After Marxism was discarded and a new constitution adopted in the late 1980s, Mozambique began to move toward democracy and the development of a market economy. The United Nations brokered a peace settlement in 1992.

Although Mozambique is still a poor country and remains heavily dependent on foreign aid, the economy has grown dramatically since peace was declared. The size of the foreign debt has been reduced through participation in the International Monetary Fund's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Enhanced HIPC initiatives. The Mozambican government has not yet been able to adequately exploit natural resources that include coal, titanium, natural gas, hydropower, tantalum, and graphite.

Just over five percent of the land area is arable, with the most fertile area being located around the Zambezi River in central Mozambique. More than 80 percent of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. With a per capita income of $1,300, Mozambique is ranked 200 of 232 counties on world income. Some 70 percent of the population live in poverty, and 47 percent are seriously [Page 1179]undernourished. Over a fifth of the labor force is unemployed. The wealthiest 10 percent of Mozambicans share almost a third of the country's wealth, while the poorest 10 percent hold less than three percent of resources. The United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Reports rank Mozambique 179th in the world in overall quality of life issues.

Bordering on the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, the southeast African nation has a coastline of 2,470 kilometers and 17,500 square kilometers of inland water resources. Mozambique shares land borders with Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The land area of Mozambique is diverse, with costal lowlands rising to uplands in the central section, high plateaus in the northwest, and mountains in the west. Elevations range from sea level to 2,436 meters at Monte Binga. The climate ranges from tropical to subtropical. Mozambique is subject to severe droughts, and the central and southern areas experience devastating cyclones and floods.

Environmental health is a major issue for the population of 19,686,505. With an HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate of 12.2 percent, 1.3 million Mozambicans live with this disease, which had killed 110,000 people by 2003. Only 42 percent of the population have sustained access to safe drinking water, and only 27 percent have access to improved sanitation. Mozambicans have a very high risk of contracting food and waterborne diseases such as bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever and the water contact disease schistosomiasis. In some areas, the population also faces high risk of contracting malaria and plague.

This susceptibility to disease produces a lower than normal life expectancy (39.82 years) and growth rate (1.38 percent), and higher than normal infant mortality (129.24 deaths per 1,000 live births) and death rates (21.35 deaths per 1,000/ population). Women give birth to an average of 5.5 children each. Dissemination of disease prevention information is difficult because less than one-third of adult females and less than two-thirds of adult males are literate.

...