Quick answer: Poverty in Mozambique is concentrated in two northern-central provinces: Nampula and Zambézia are home to 46% of the country's poor, according to the World Bank. Both are large, populous and mostly rural, with families who depend on rain-fed farming and have little access to inputs, roads, markets or credit.
How concentrated is poverty in Mozambique?
The World Bank reports that "poverty is concentrated in Nampula and Zambezia, home to 46% of the population," and that rural poverty is entrenched: about two thirds of Mozambicans live in rural areas (World Bank). Nationally, poverty rose from 48.4% in 2014/15 to 62.9% in 2022.
Why are Nampula and Zambézia so poor?
| Driver | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Large rural populations | Most families farm small plots for food and a little cash |
| Rain-fed farming | One late or failed rainy season means hunger until the next harvest |
| Few inputs | Saved seed, little or no fertilizer, hand tools |
| Distance to markets | Poor rural roads, especially in the rains; produce sells cheap at the farm gate |
| Shocks | Cyclones and floods on the coast; conflict spillover in the north |
| Limited finance | Banks are far away and rarely lend to smallholders |
Rural vs urban poverty
Poverty is deepest in the countryside, where most people farm. In cities like Maputo and Nampula city, poor families mostly work in informal trade and services; they face high living costs but have more ways to earn. Rural families have fewer options: if the harvest fails, there is little else.
What helps families in these provinces
- Planting on time with good seed and fertilizer. The biggest lever on rural income.
- Storage, so families don't have to sell everything at harvest when prices are lowest.
- Cooperatives, which let small farmers buy and sell together. MBC works with the COJAZ cooperative in Zambézia.
- Savings groups and insurance to absorb shocks.
Meet the farmers
Many of the farmers MBC supports are in Zambézia. You can read stories like Meet Zito: farmer, father, future, and choose a farmer by province on the sponsor-where-you-served page.
A sponsorship pays the farmer's local seed and fertilizer shop (92%), with 8% for field verification, and you receive the receipt and a harvest update. $25 buys seed; about $150 covers a full season. Sponsor a farmer.
Sponsorships are gifts, not investments, and are not tax-deductible.
Source: World Bank, Mozambique overview (updated September 2026)