Mozambique
On the morning of March 15th, Cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique some 60+km north of the port of Beira in a remote region close to the Zambezi delta.
Cyclones
Just a month and ten days after Cyclone Idai, Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in the north of Mozambique causing widespread devastation among the low lying islands in the region.
Repetitive severe weather events caused significant damage to coastal communities who, as usual, faced the full force of the landfall events. Despite their cultural resilience built on generations of experience, Kenneth and Idai presented abnormal conditions that had not been experienced before at the landfall regions.
Cyclone Idai March and April 2019
August 2019
Post Cyclone, empowering small scale artisanal fishers and coastal communities so that they can build back their livelihoods with more resilient, innovative and sustainable practices is a key objective.
Finding realistic and functional solutions can be a challenge, especially with a shortage of materials such as sustainably sourced wood. During the Cyclones, many dug out canoes were damaged.
Canoes present one of the biggest challenges, they are like a common household item for many coastal families.
As you would expect, people repair them however they present a safety risk as many are cracked and severely damaged. Repairs are typically made by melting plastic over the cracks and tying the parts together.
Below are some of the photos I took from earlier in the year...
broken homes and boats mixed with fishing gear
broken canoes and bundles of nets litter the coastline
one of the few remaining dugout canoes
a cooperative beach trawl method using a boat called a Moma
mangroves and a remote village destroyed
mother and son illegally fish from the decimated shoreline
the remote village of Zambanzou took the direct force of the lanfdall of Cyclone Idai
dug out canoes under sail
boats washed high on the shore
resilient "Moma" boat team pulling their nets
beach landing fish market at Beira
children play amongst damaged Moma boats
Just a few of the pictures I managed to take while making rapid assesments for UN FAO.
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