Country Comments

Mozambique has had an average fertility rate of over 5 children per woman the past decade. As a result it’s population is growing dramatically every year and will soon be adding over one million new citizens annually. The country still has room for more people based on its substantial renewable natural resources but those supplies are rapidly diminishing.

The World Wildlife Fund estimates 80% of Mozambique’s population live in rural areas and depend on wood for cooking and for heating of water for domestic use, space heating and drying of foodstuffs. This reliance on trees could spell disaster as population levels rise. Habitat loss is causing humans and wildlife to share increasingly smaller living spaces. Both sides are losing in the conflicts that ensue, such as in and around the Delta of the Zambezi River. There, crocodiles and hippos are coming face to face with humans increasingly often, while poaching and other illegal activities put species in jeopardy.(1)

According to the 2019 United Nations Development Programme’s report, Mozambique ranks 180th out of 189 countries with a high Gender Inequality Index. The Gender Inequality Index is a parameter that evaluates gender-based inequalities in three aspects including reproductive health, empowerment and economic activity. Over the years, the untiring efforts of the UN Committee on The Elimination of Discrimination Against Women have sparked a wave of non-governmental organizations that fight for women’s rights in Mozambique. These efforts have resulted in a noticeable change, although the country still has a long way to go.

(1) https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_offices/mozambique/environmental_problems_in_mozambique/