Mozambique’s food and metabolic-health story stretches from cassava-growing northern provinces to maize-based central and southern diets, coastal fisheries, beans, groundnuts, coconut and leafy-vegetable traditions. Climate shocks, food prices and infectious disease coexist with rising obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular risk.
Cassava is a major staple in the north, while maize is prominent in central and southern regions; rice, sorghum and millet also contribute. A stiff porridge known as xima may be served with beans, leafy vegetables, groundnut or coconut-based sauces, fish or seafood. Dishes such as matapa show how leaves, groundnuts and coconut can enrich staple-based meals.
Cassava and maize provide energy, but cassava root is naturally low in protein and must be processed safely. Meals become nutritionally stronger when staples are paired with beans, groundnuts, cassava leaves or other greens, and fish where available. Preparation, portion and the full meal matter more than declaring a staple intrinsically healthy or unhealthy.
Coastal and inland fisheries are important nutritional assets. Protecting small-scale fish supply, cold chains and local markets can support both livelihoods and access to protein.
WHO estimates that 10.3% of Mozambican adults had obesity in 2022, with an uncertainty interval of 7.9% to 13.0%. WHO estimated that noncommunicable diseases accounted for 30.7% of deaths in 2021. These modeled estimates describe populations and include uncertainty.
HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhoeal disease and maternal-child undernutrition remain prominent. Cyclones, floods, drought and displacement can disrupt farming, fisheries, fresh-food access and chronic-disease treatment. Public-health advice must therefore be paired with food security and resilient health services.
Priorities include safe cassava processing, diverse seed systems, beans and groundnuts, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, vegetable production, fisheries protection, storage and climate-resilient markets. Schools and primary care can reinforce these efforts through diverse meals, safe water, reduced sugary-drink exposure, and blood-pressure and glucose screening.
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