April Editorial
Our contribution to Mozambique getting out of a state of absolute poverty
Towards sustainable development
On this occasion, after the Easter holidays and the celebration of Ramadan, I would like to offer for your reflection some conclusions of the study that OMR carried out with the participation of Dr. Mosca and his collaborators and that is yet to be completed, on the situation of economic growth in Mozambique.
Here are some significant pronouncements to delve into together!
Mozambique is a structurally and long-term dependent country...
However, due to climate shocks, external and internal economic crises, conflict situations, etc., it can be considered that Mozambique is a country at permanent risk, and of being very dependent...
This is a completely different picture from how it is painted by government structures!
Despite the general level of dependency estimated and measured by FDIx, the situation can worsen when imbalance-causing phenomena occur, even if they are short-term (less than three years), such as the COVID-1931 pandemic, hidden debts, climate shocks of high intensity and frequency (cyclones and droughts), armed conflicts32 and the NATO/Ukraine-Russia war33.
In these periods, dependency levels increase conjecturally, translating into emergency food aid, economic growth slows down (or becomes negative), employment and poverty increase, inflation soars, and macroeconomic imbalances emerge, which shows a limited capacity to respond to external shocks through domestic resources.
Mozambique's ranking should be weighed because investment, macroeconomic growth and stability, poverty, and emergency food supply depend to a large extent on external factors.
Institutions, especially the State, show high inefficiency and ineffectiveness, lack of transparency, misappropriation or misapplication of funds, and corruption, which greatly aggravates dependence through the stunting of economic development, the business sector, the narrowing of the productive structure and accumulation abroad, the increase in poverty and social and territorial inequalities.
The essential issue lies in the alliances between foreign capital and the interest groups that dominate the centers of political and economic decision-making based on the internal distribution of resources and the application of public policies, without considering a global development strategy that benefits the country and its citizens.
This text, produced by specialists, permanently dedicated to the economic reading of Mozambique, makes us understand that we are still very far from developing countries and that on the scale of Nations, we still occupy one of the last positions!! At the same time, it invites us to reflect on our attitude toward humanitarian service through the implementation of our programs. We are called to contribute to the development of the country and not to its regression and underdeveloped!
We are aware that our development programs are a drop in the ocean of the life of the Mozambican Nation! We are conscious, but we cannot be discouraged in the face of so much negativity that manifests itself daily in our country.
Our action, however small, must bear tangible fruits of development, it must show that what we do is in harmony with the best practices of development and must become models of imitation on the part of all those who are engaged in the fight against absolute poverty.
Our action, however small and often limited in time, must produce concrete results and help to change the state of poverty in rural communities towards a more sustainable and reliable life in the future. In this, young people should feel that their presence in the countryside is important and that they do not feel alienated from rural life, engaged in innovations and responsibilities that generate wealth and motivate them to stay in the countryside!
The rural environment cannot be eroded day by day, becoming a ghost of a few people who live on sustenance, with funds that come from outside and with ends from people who live in the cities or in South Africa. The land is rich and, if put to good use, can sustain those who live off the land. It should be the peasants who support the others who live in the cities on the wages of the poor and enslaved by low-paid jobs.
The life of the countryside must once again be valued and placed as a symbol of well-being and of a serene and desired life!
In this, our programs must make a difference! The name KULIMA should resonate in every corner of rural life where we are working and be a focal point of real development!
Let's do little... but well done and impactful!
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Yours Sincerely,
Dominic Liuzzi,
National Director of KULIMA.
