Emergency response to Cyclone Idai

Tropical Cyclone Idai has recently affected 3 countries in Southern Africa, causing severe flooding throughout Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Since March 14th, when the cyclone made landfall, more than 900 people have died and thousands of people remain missing. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called Cyclone Idai "one of the worst weather-related catastrophes in the history of Africa."

In Mozambique, significant damages have affected the country’s infrastructure and livelihoods have been put at risk. The number of people in need of immediate assistance now amounts to 1.85 million. The disaster coincided with the start of the harvest season with over 500,000 hectares of crops damaged, thereby further increasing food insecurity for thousands of households across the region. Large quantities of maize, a staple food in Southern Africa, have been completely washed away.

With its Emergency Fund for Food Aid, the Louis Dreyfus Foundation has committed to supporting the World Food Programme’s emergency response in Mozambique by funding the delivery of a month's worth of lifesaving food to approximately 15,000 people.

The Foundation’s Emergency Fund for Food Aid was created in 2014 for emergency assistance to populations facing food insecurity as a result of natural disasters or humanitarian crises. In the past, the Foundation supported relief efforts in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Yemen, and areas affected by the Ebola virus outbreak.

WFP, Jeronimo Tovela