Some communities in Balibo administrative post in Bobonaro municipality are facing food shortages due to the long drought affecting the area this year, which has impacted on the production of vegetables and fruits.
Local resident Carlota Maia said they were experiencing shortages of rice, vegetables and fruits due to the lack of rain.
She said communities were still farming and planting vegetables crops, but most died before they could be harvested, while some were sold in the market to buy rice.
“Here we buy rice because there is no rainwater so we cannot farm rice,” she said.
She said a 30kg sack of rice cost $25, while 25kg was $15, but this was usually finished within a month due to the large size of families.
Lack of access to clean water is another problem facing communities in the region.
She said the water piping system provided by the government and development partners was no longer functioning and so local residents were forced to dig for water in the dry river beds, which they must carry to their homes to meet their daily consumption.
Meanwhile, local resident Anita Gama said climate change was severely affecting people’s daily livelihoods and food production was also in decline.
She said each day the women must help their husbands to chop wood and collect rocks from the river to sell as construction materials so that they could buy food for their families.
“Sometimes, we make $15 in a day and we use some money for buying food to eat like rice and vegetables in the market and some is used for [traditional] ceremonies,” she said.
She said most people consumed either rice or corn each day, which had been harvested last year and kept for seeds, but could not be planted due to the lack of rain.
She said the community was receiving assistance from local organization Together we Help (HIAM) Health to grow moringa, which is high in nutrition and does not need much water to grow.
Director of HIAM Health Rosaria Martins da Cruz said food shortages this year were being caused by climate change.
“Hunger, I think no, but food shortages happen because we see that each family has more than seven children,” she said.
She said climate change was not only impacting on production, but also contributing to the high rates of malnutrition as communities did not have a balanced diet.
According to health guidelines, people should eat three meals a day and consume a balanced diet that strengthened the health and body’s immune system, including rice, corn, beans and a good variety of other fruits and vegetables.
However, in reality many people only ate twice a day and were consuming a very limited diet of rice and corn.
She said in the future, the government planned to collect rainwater so that it could be distributed to communities during drought conditions for personal consumption and to grow crops.
HIAM Health works to improve communities’ knowledge about nutrition and promote the use of green houses, as well as encourage families to grow nutritional plants.
