A mother of five children, Ms. Sitoe has never been to school. Worse still, her husband has no job. A few old pots lie in one corner along with a couple of empty beer cans. Although about 70 per cent of Mozambique's 16 million people live in the countryside, an increasing number of families eke out subsistence in urban areas. In these suburban communities, the head of the household is often unemployed and the children, most of them raggedly dressed and sickly, rarely attend school.
Hunger is a never-ending problem.
With few plots of land to farm, the families rely on whatever meagre provisions they can afford at the market. Food subsidies, like other social services, have all but vanished. As a result of these pressures, many community members turn to crime and alcoholism, problems that further dissipate their morale. Making matters even worse for them is the national Economic Recovery Programme supported by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This austerity plan, designed to spur business, has left many families struggling with soaring prices, wage controls and shrinking job opportunities.