Advertisement

Niassa is finding its feet: The fight against poverty in Mozambique's most remote province

Located in the very north­-east of Mozambique, between Tanzania and Lake Malawi, lies the cou...
Newstalk
Newstalk

17.13 28 Jun 2015


Share this article


Niassa is finding its feet: Th...

Niassa is finding its feet: The fight against poverty in Mozambique's most remote province

Newstalk
Newstalk

17.13 28 Jun 2015


Share this article


Located in the very north­-east of Mozambique, between Tanzania and Lake Malawi, lies the country's largest and most sparsely populated province. Niassa is one­ and a ­half times the size of Ireland yet has a population of less than 1.2 million people.

Approaching by air, the vast savanna, a patchwork of mottled browns, reds and greens, stretches to the horizon. Bright snaking dirt tracks mark the roads and slivers of green trees line the rivers, but there is an overwhelming sense of emptiness about the Niassan countryside. The towns are scarcely different.

Lichinga, the provincial capital, is a far cry from the bustling cities further south. Traffic is leisurely; the airport stays closed on Fridays; and the signs of newly accumulated wealth – flash cars, stores with luxury goods ­quite common on the streets of the country's capital Maputo, are few.

Advertisement

Niassa has long been considered a sort of Siberian region: underdeveloped and with not a lot to do; but like the rest of Mozambique, economic progress is making its mark. Poverty remains a pressing concern though, and the availability of healthcare is a top priority.

Two children stand outside a village in the remote Niassan countryside

Dinis Viegas, Niassa's Director of Health, explains some of the major problems facing the province: “The big problems are malaria, AIDS, respiratory diseases in children and issues related to sanitation, provision of drinking water... and behind all that we have situations linked to children’s malnutrition and we have challenges related to women and children’s healthcare.”

These problems are not unique to Niassa, nor even to Mozambique's poorer provinces, but the low population density makes solutions all the more difficult. Outside the larger towns, roads are poor and buses are few, meaning that the reach of new health clinics is low compared to other provinces.

Viegas is keen to explain that despite the obstacles, significant improvements have been made in Niassa's health sector over the last few years. There are now three hospitals, up from two in 2005, and a doctor in each of the province's 15 districts. Even as recent as 2007, only Lichinga and Cuamba, the two largest towns, had doctors. In addition, maternal mortality rates have declined by more than half, and child mortality rates by almost two-­thirds.

At a remote health post a woman waits outside her with child held in a brightly coloured capulana, a traditional type of sarong. She has come for a consultation, but the clinic's only nurse is missing, and possibly sick. Though she has not traveled far, she is frustrated and says that it is not the first absence. Absenteeism is a common issue among healthcare workers and teachers, even when so many people are dependent on one worker.

A groundskeeper for the health post says it provides basic medial care to just under 2,000 people and sees around 70 patients on its busiest days. But despite the waiting mother's frustration, she is generally happy with the nurse, who has only recently arrived in the area. In previous years, before enough qualified nurses were available, posts were manned by a volunteer with three month's training.

Though the quality health provision can leave much to be desired, the foremost concern of the health directorate is to provide a basic level of care for all citizens. As Viegas says, “when there is a population of 30,000 inhabitants for one doctor, then it’s difficult to talk about quality, isn’t it?”

Some in the NGO sector believe Niassa is deliberately underfunded by the national government, as money spent on services would not benefit as many people as in more densely populated and developed provinces. Whatever the case, spending is limited, and certain investments must be prioritised.

Chief among these is developing roads and other infrastructure. The Provincial Director of Public Works and Housing, Graciano Artur, believes that improving Niassa's transport network is they key to pushing the province forward:

“What we’ve been seeing in the communities is that, on the one hand, they start improving their lives and they start improving their homes and there is an increase in the number of means of transportation, where for example they start acquiring bikes and motorbikes. There is an increase in the milling industry both around and within the community. So we think that the lives of the communities are improving.”

The task ahead is immense. The province has around 7,000km of roads, of which only 500km is paved, and there is not enough funding to maintain roads even in their current state. But here in Niassa even small changes can hold enormous benefits for remote communities.

Saide Arube, a local farmer, transporting a sack of maize meal.

A few hours away from Lichinga, by a small bridge over the Luchinwa River, Saide Arube cycles along with a sack of maize meal carefully balanced over his back wheel. A 64-year-old farmer, with 12 children and more grandchildren than he can recall, Arubi stops and speaks in his native Yao about the changes brought about by the bridge, which was built six years ago with funding from Irish Aid.

Before it had to be carried over a narrow ford, which is an enormous undertaking during the rainy months between December and March. The river swells to such a degree that many smaller children stopped going to school as they were unable to cross safely.

With the new bridge, crossing is possible year­-round. Arubi now rents a truck to transport his produce to the nearest market. Though a bridge scarcely ten metres in length may not seem of huge importance, in a region so lacking in basic infrastructure, these construction projects can save journeys of hundreds of kilometres by car, provide new access to markets, and allow people to avail of services once out of reach.

Change in Niassa is not as quick or as obvious as it is in other provinces in Mozambique, but its effects are seen in the improved health statistics, the steady development of infrastructure, and the increased availability of essential services to those living in the most remote poverty imaginable.

When asked what changes he would like to see in the future, Arube is reluctant to speak, almost too polite to make demands upon what changes have already been made. Smiling, he explains how he would like the road tarred. He then remounts his bike, pedals around a few bumps on the dirt road, and turns out of sight.

This article was supported by the Simon Cumbers Media Fund.


Share this article


Read more about

News

Most Popular