National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), December 2007.

The National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) includes summaries of 4 initiatives, for various economic and social development sectors, with special emphasis on the prevention of natural disasters and Alert and Early Warning Systems; the agricultural, fisheries, energy, environmental and water sectors; coastal zones; and erosion control. The purpose of the NAPA is to present the immediate and urgent needs of the country that have been identified during the participatory evaluation process, for the purposes of strengthening national capacity to cope with the adverse effects of climate change. This will be accomplished by meeting the following objectives: 1. Strengthen the early warning system in the country; 2. Strengthen the capacities of family farmers to dealing with the adverse effects of climate change; 3. Improve the knowledge and strengthen the management of river waters; 4. Promote actions to limit erosion and to develop sustainable fishery activities; 5. Promote actions that will contribute to the mitigation of Greenhouse Gases (GHG); 6. Promote public education activities and information dissemination on climate change; 7. Improve the coordination between the various groups that work on issues related to the evaluation of climate change vulnerabilities and hazard risk reduction; 8. Promote the integration of climate change into decentralized district planning (pag. 3).
The government of Mozambique recognizes that the country is vulnerable to catastrophes and that the hazards resulting from climate change are some of the factors that aggravate the situation of absolute poverty in Mozambique. The management of risks and the reduction of natural disasters have been a priority in the political agenda for Mozambique where thousands of people have been threatened every year from natural hazards. Under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are preparing their National Adaptation Progammes of Action (NAPAs), a document that outlines clear and simple information on urgent and immediate needs with regards to climate change impacts and adaptation priorities. It’s in this context that an inter-agency NAPA team was created by MICOA, to coordinate the elaboration and implementation of activities aimed at reducing the impact of climate change and to establish climate change adaptation initiatives. The group consists of technicians representing The National Directorates of agriculture (current agricultural services), Energy (ex-MIREME), Health and Environmental Management, National Institute For Disaster Management, Meteorology, Hydrography and Navigation, Mozambique Red Cross and the Environmental Working Group (pag. 2).
This document outlines four actions which aim to reduce the negative impacts of extreme hydro-meteorological events through adaptation initiatives. All proposals utilize locally available resources and cost-efficient, environmentally friendly, sustainable technologies as a way to combat poverty. The strict and positive implementation of the initiatives presented below will contribute to the improvement of the quality of people’s lives and to a consequent reduction of vulnerability to extreme events. The proposed adaptation initiatives target various areas of economic and social development, and outline projects related to the reduction of impacts to natural disasters, the creation of adaptation measures to climate change, fight against soil erosion in areas of high desertification and coastal zones, reforestation and the management of water resources. The management of the proposed initiatives require well-elaborated and planned activities, and inter-institutional collaboration for the prevention and reduction of natural disasters. It is also essential that the involved institutions have the required technical and fiscal capacities to implement effective environmental monitoring and research to better understand and interpret the phenomena that influence climate change impacts and vulnerabilities (pag. 26).