Pursuit

I had a migraine all day which started during the night so it wasn’t the most flourishing start to a New Year that I’ve ever had.

I tottered around Nampula to try and get to know it better, having only previously passed through for work travel. It will remain a tourist backwater based on its attractions and appeal. It is described as prosperous in my guidebook, which I don’t think characterises it well. As the country’s second largest city it is true that it is expanding and booming in some ways, including as a hub for agri-business and other industry. However the city centre struck me as poverty-stricken and I was approached by numerous people wanting money, help or food. It felt like an entirely depressing 2022 that they have to contemplate.

I find it difficult to see the positive current and future impact of free market economics somewhere like Mozambique, as elsewhere the doggedness with which this ideology has been pursued has led to increased inequality. This ideology plus consumerism is what fuels the movement of population to cities in countries like Mozambique, as people seek material riches, lured by the heady combination of marketing, comparison and the view that material wealth is one of life’s major achievements. Some people of course find opportunities in cities such as Nampula but my experience of Mozambique is that poor urban life is much more marginal, less healthy and no wealthier than rural farming life. As a lot of farmers, unless they have lots of surplus crops to sell, are on the margins of the cash economy, the prevailing ideology teaches them they need to be making more money as a measure of success. I would argue that with education and health needs catered for (by no means guaranteed for poor families in Mozambique, but efforts ongoing), happiness, wellbeing and food security are the most important things to strive for. And except in drought years, lots of people already have this sorted, creating a less compelling case for more migration to cities and a swelling of the already substantial numbers of urban destitute.

This political graffiti struck me as I’d just asked for some transport advice from passersby and they responding by begging for food. It is lobbying voters to support Movimento Democrático de Moçambique, a small opposition party. Although the country is far from uncoupling the shackles of the dominant party that has been in power ever since Mozambique has had elections, it’s healthy to see opposition and policy ideas that seek to address imbalances, unfair sharing of state wealth, and wider access to services. The global capitalist and consumerist ideologies are dangerous to millions of people seeking opportunities in Mozambique, yet despite this people could be bolstered much better with a more consistent and supportive government. Mozambique possesses natural wealth, and based on the amount of poverty and pleading on every street corner, this existing wealth must be better deployed and shared.