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The Mozambican 11 year war of independence, ended with the establishment of an independent, Marxist government. But a 17 year civil war started soon after independence, with an internal military uprising that some foreign governments supported.
The civil war affected Mozambicans severely, specifically in rural areas. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed and over a million people fled the country to neighbouring countries like Malawi. More than a million others were displaced within Mozambique.
Many rural people migrated to the cities, especially along the coast where the government maintained control. The country went into severe economic depression and agriculture was disrupted, so the country could not feed itself. By the late 1980s, Mozambique had one of the lowest per-capita caloric intakes in the world.
Even when relief food eventually flowed in after the El Niño-induced 1992 famine, Mozambique's war-ravaged transportation system prevented efficient distribution of the food, and internal politics interfered with relief work. Mozambique later became a base for neighbouring nationalist rebels. As a result, the Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Mozambican National Resistance), or RENAMO, was born and launched guerrilla warfare against the FRELIMO party. After the devastating civil war between FRELIMO and RENAMO, during which over 1 million people were killed and 3 million displaced, a new constitution was adopted. With the signing of the Rome General Peace Accords, Mozambique was finally at peace in 1992. In 1994, Dave Law entered the country and set up the now known Barra Lodge.
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