Mozambique: Floods cut beef production to 3,611 tonnes, down 22% year on year in Q1

Beef production in Mozambique fell by 22% in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2025, to 3,611 tonnes, due to the impact of floods that hit the country in January and February, according to official data. According to data from a government implementation report seen by Lusa, overall meat production in the country rose by 5% to 34,716 tonnes in this period, representing only 16% of the total forecast for the year. This growth was driven by poultry meat, which increased by 9% in the first three months to 29,023 tonnes.

However, beef production was severely affected, falling by 22% year on year to 3,611 tonnes. “Due to the negative impact of floods, which made access roads from production areas to the main slaughter and meat marketing centres impassable (mainly to Maputo city and province and Gaza, the main producers),” the document states. It adds that “restrictions on the movement of animals due to disease outbreaks” were another negative factor affecting the sector in the first three months of the year.

According to the same report, Mozambique had a cattle herd of 2,583,034 and 21,272,264 chickens at the end of March 2026, representing growth of 5% and 7%, respectively, compared with 2025. The losses come after widespread flooding and extreme weather events that affected large parts of the country during the rainy season. The Mozambican government on Tuesday deactivated the red alert, which had been in place since 16 January due to widespread flooding that caused at least 43 deaths, but maintained an orange alert.

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“The Council of Ministers has deactivated the red alert, but maintains the orange alert for a period of two months so that we can monitor humanitarian assistance and stabilise the affected areas,” government spokesperson Ussene Isse said at the end of the weekly Cabinet meeting in Maputo. “Although the state of emergency is important to deactivate, we must, on the other hand, remain vigilant, because there is still humanitarian assistance and stabilisation work in the affected areas, mainly in the provinces of Maputo and Gaza and other regions of the country,” he added.

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